Let Me Help You
by MissMeganK
Summary: Is it possible to find love with the dead roaming every corner of the Earth? Is it possible to feel anything but fear, when life can be taken away by just a bite? Is it possible to break the shell of a certain arrogant man? If it is, how is it done?
1. Mae's Begining

Sitting on the porch, with a sketch pad in her lap, is a normal place to find her. Anywhere with her sketch pad really. She likes to sit and watch the neighborhood that is foreign to her. She likes to capture the moment in her drawings. She draws what she sees, not visually but mentally. She draws what her mind sees, not her eyes. She loves to watch the locals interact with one another. She watches the children play ball in the street. She wonders what it is like, to not have a care in the world; to just be focused on when its time to take a nap or when the best cartoons are on.

Smiling with the her pencil poised to draw, she takes a deep breath. The movement of her hand, the feeling of the pencil and paper are what she considers home. She lives to draw. When stressed, she draws a solution and acts upon the end result. The lines come naturally, the shading comes without hesitation. Not before long, the children playing in the street, are now playing in her sketch pad. Satisfied she closes her pad and brings her knees to her chest.

She has come to the town of Jasper to visit her father, and attend the funeral for her stepmother; whom has died of "natural" causes. She doesn't live near Jasper, nor does she live in the state of South Carolina. She actually doesn't live in the United States at all. Her home is in Liverpool, England. When she was young, her parents spit. She moved, with her mother, to live with her grandparents in Liverpool. Her father and brother stayed in the small house in Jasper. As a child, she hadn't lived in South Carolina for long; just about a year. Being so young, the moving wasn't hard at all; in fact she doesn't remember much of it. Being separated from her older brother wasn't hard either. She has often wondered how hard it was for him, him being five when the move had happened.

The sun is setting, and the temperature is dropping. She wonders how much longer she must stay here. She longs desperately to go back home, to her mother, to her room, to her job. Being a nurse has been her dream ever since she can remember. She has worked so hard to get to where she is now. She is the head nurse, for lack of a better title, of the hospital she works at. She's the boss. She loves helping the children; seeing the fear leave their eyes when she walks in the room with her special teddy bear, which she uses to calm the children down. Watching the kids over come their fear, and having part of it is her favorite part of her job.

She watches as the children's parents call them inside the house for dinner. She shivers, smiling at the thought of being a kid again. She thinks of when she was younger, and how if felt to just run; run like nobody was watching. Run like the imaginary monster was chasing her. A chuckle escapes her lips.

Footsteps approach from behind her. The wood creaks with the weight of the man standing there, as he shifts from foot to foot. It has always been awkward between her and her brother. She wants so desperately to have a close relationship with him, to have the over protective, annoying, loving brother-sister relationship. She knows that can never happen, of course. That love comes from years of childhood; from years of fights, playtime, family functions. It comes from years together, and that is something they do not have.

She would never complain about her life. Never about her parent's divorce, or the growing up without a father, never. She has accepted it, and it doesn't bother her. Not at all. Not in the slightest.

"Maelynn." Her brother's voice floats through the air. She sighs, and turns to him.

"Please, I have told you plenty of times, to call me Mae." He doesn't look at her, he continues to stare ahead. Mae watches him. The setting sun gives him an orange glow across his face. His eyes look like they have fire within them. With the way his face it pinched tight, there might just be fire in his eyes.

He stands there, swaying from foot to foot. Mae shakes her head, starting to stand up but sits back where she is when her brother speaks again.

"My mother just died and you are worried about what I call you?" She is speechless. She hadn't meant to upset him. She jumps up, ready to apologize when she thinks about the question he just asked.

"Parker, she wasn't your mother. Not your actual mother anyways. She was your stepmother. I-"

"She raised me while my birth mother was off in another country! You expect me to just accept that?! You expect me to call you my _sister_ when you never came to visit?!" Flinching, Mae's grey eyes widen. She takes two steps back, not wanting to be too close. Her hand automatically goes to the sliver locket around her neck. She finds some comfort knowing she can cold on to the cold metal. Her mouth is opening and closing, not finding the words she needs to say. She blinks then closes her eyes and shakes her head. _How could he?_

"Yeah, you never came to visit. You and that _woman_ lived in a bubble all the way across an ocean, while we lived here in reality. Is it _hard_ living in a perfect world, Maelynn? Is it_ hard_ going to private school, and going to the best college? Is it _hard_ getting everything you could dream of? Yeah I didn't think so. Go home! Go back to where you belong because you sure as hell don't belong here! You chose a _great_ time to visit us. It's been ten years! _Ten years_ since you have been here! What made you come now?! What made you think of us now?!" Tears threaten to swell in her eyes. She has never had a relationship with Parker, but that did not mean this didn't hurt. She refuses to cry. She knows that will not help the situation. So she stands there, mouth gaping, eyes wide, not knowing what to say.

He is right about a few things, though. It has been ten years. The last visit she made was when she was sixteen. She hated visiting her father, but it is stated in a document that he must see her for at least one month a year. He is also right about her not visiting much. She didn't like it here' she felt lie an outsider. That one month stated in the document isn't specific, nor does it apply to Mae any longer. She is an adult and can choose when to visit her father.

But what he is most right about is the fact that she doesn't belong here. He is right about her life being easier, but not completely right. She worked hard to get where she is. She studied her butt off to make sure she was the best she could be. She poured her every moment into becoming who she is today.

She swallowed before speaking, thinking of how to respond without being yelled at again.

"Parker, I-"

"No, you don't get to speak. Leave Maelynn. Go home. I'll buy you the plane ticket myself, if it means you will leave early." Mae stares at her brother. He is being outrageous. She has no words to say to him. She doesn't want to say anything. She clears her throat with the intention of saying her final words to her brother. The action is never completed. She inches away from her brother slowly, just slow enough that her doesn't notice, but quick enough that she makes progress.

"Don't say anything, Maelynn. You need to leave. Pack your things and I will have a cab bring you to the airport tomorrow morning." With that, Parker throws her a nasty look and leaves her standing outside in the cold. The door slams behind him making Mae jump. She has no clue whether she should go back inside or take a walk. This is not what she expected to happen when she came here. She came to see how her father was doing, her brother as well, and leave. Maybe a simple letter could have told her as much.

Mae turns around, looks up to the sky, and laughs. The whole situation is ridiculous. She never had a relationship with Parker and she may never have one. Her father is a lost cause to her, that ship has sailed a long time ago. She starts walking towards the street; needing to walk and clear her head. How could things get so out of hand? How could she think that ten years would have made a difference. Instead of walking, she starts running. She runs like she is a child. She runs like that imaginary monster is chasing her. She pumps her arms and moves her legs as fast as she can. She doesn't care who is watching. She doesn't care what she looks like. All she cares about is not getting caught by that monster.

Mae lifts her head and laughs again. Her hair comes out of her hair tie. The long strands of wavy brown hair flow free. Her arms go out to the sides of her and she yells. She feels giddy all of a sudden. She feels her silver locket hitting her chest with each hard stride that hits the pavement. She feels as if she can run forever. She, of course, cannot but she will run for as long as she can. Her boots are not made for running, but she pays no mind to them. It feels so good to run. With her eyes closed, she runs as far as she can. She runs as fast as she can. She runs until she cannot run any longer. Her lungs are over working, her legs burn, her arms are weak when she finally decides to stop.

As she slows into a walk, she reevaluates her life thus far. She has an amazing job that she loves dearly. She has her mother and grandparents whom support and love her unconditionally. She has a home where she can be who she wants and no one can tell her otherwise, in her sketch book. She lives in a beautiful house. She is fortunate.

She has a great life, though there is no love aspect. Sure, no one _needs_ a love life, but its always nice to have one. She wasn't the prettiest girl in school, nor has she ever had much luck with getting a guy to notice her. She has always been a shy girl, ever since she was little. Her head is usually stuck in a book, or in her sketch book. Her mind is always far out there, no guy will attempt to bring her out of it. She has learned to keep her head down, and her mouth shut. She keeps to herself, never actually venturing out of her comfort zone; boys are included in the "not comfort zone." This did not imply to her nursing, or her need to help the wounded. If the occasion calls for a healer, she will run to the wound-ed's side.

She has never gave having a boyfriend much thought. She just figured it would happen when it happens. Sure she has had a few dates back when, but they never led to anything special. She gave up with searching back in high school, and has been far to busy recently to look. So it makes sense that she never gave much thought to what type of men she is interested in. But now that she is, she decides to make a list.

_Must be a gentleman._

_Must be willing to talk about how he feels. No pansies though. _

_Must not curse.  
_

_Must be two to three years older or younger. No older or younger, that could turn out horrible._

It is a good list for now. She just thought of it after all. She doesn't care what he looks like as long as he meets the four requirements she has just created. She knows she will find someone who will be perfect to her. Someone who will treat her right, protect her from danger, love her with all his heart. Yes, he is definitely out there, she just has to look.

Smiling to herself, she looks around her. The neighborhood is quite nice; small, welcoming, peaceful. She wonders what goes on behind closed doors. She's not as foolish as to believe that the neighborhood is perfect. She knows there is no perfect family. Husbands and wives fight, siblings fight, friends fight, its natural. Its normal. Her fathers house is a prime example. At the moment Mae didn't care to think about what happens in others' houses; all she cares about is getting home.

Her thoughts are interrupted by Mr and Mrs Johnson; that is who she suspected they are considering the mailbox has the name "Johnson's" on it. Mrs. Johnson, she guesses, is holding up Mr. Johnson, another guess, helping him inside their house. Mae watches, noticing that Mr. Johnson looks a bit pale, and his shoulder is bleeding. There is too much blood for the older man to be bleeding to not have help. Running over to them with out a second thought, she quickly asks what happened.

"Oh deary, don't worry about him. He's got a bit of a scratch. Nothin' to be worried 'bout. Go on, run along." Mrs. Johnson smiles a worried smile to Mae as she helps her husband in the house. He groans, his head rolls back and Mae does everything she can to not help, as Mrs. Johnson asked.

Speechless once more for the night, Mae slowly walks away. She heads back to her father's house, thinking of what she just saw. To Mae, the injury on Mr. Johnson was not a simple scratch. It looked more like a bite, maybe from a dog, or possibly a cat? No, definitely not a cat, much too large. A dog seems to be the most logical explanation. An image pops up into Mae's over active imagination, a werewolf. She rolls her eyes shakes her head. _Werewolves, ha_! Mrs. Johnson is right, this is none of Mae's business. She heads to her father's house to begin packing.

The walk back is much longer than the run here. Mae didn't realize how far she ran. The air cools a considerable amount. She has on no jacket, just a short sleeve shirt and a pair of jeans. Her jacket is back at her father's house. She holds herself trying to warm up, when she hears a scream. It sounded of pure terror. She stops dead in her tracks. Looking around, she sees nothing. The streets are empty, the sun is completely down, and the world around her is quiet. She does not hear the scream again. She writes it off as part of her imagination. Everyone living in the houses around her must be sleeping. She isn't sure what time it is, but she knows it is fairly late. She starts walking again, though this time she walks at a faster pace.

She walks through the front door of her father's modest house. The door is unlocked, but the lights are out. No sound comes to her ears. The silence is unsettling. The floor board creak under her feet. The fear of waking her father is the only thing running through her mind. She tries her hardest to stay quiet. The floor board puts up a valiant fight; her need to stay quiet and the floor's goal to wake her father cause her to stop. Running up the stairs is an option, she is light on her feet, she could skip steps. Walking up them is like pulling teeth, slow and painful. Making the decision to sprint up the stairs, Mae readies herself. One hand braces on the wall, the other on the railing. In six large, quiet steps, she makes it up the stairs. _Not bad for having short legs. _She thinks to herself, smirking.

She opens the door to her room. The room she has been staying in during her visit is the smallest guest room she has ever been in. It has a claustrophobic feeling to it. It's walls are bright yellow, obnoxiously so. The furniture white, along with the pillows, and blankets. The whole room oozes "you will never want to stay here again." The room smells of dead flowers, though that can be from the potpourri sitting in the bowl next to her. The large ceramic statue of the white poodle is tacky as well; the dog has nothing to do with the flower theme of the room. Not only is the room obnoxious, the little yellow bird that resigns in said room makes the stayer want to jump out of the window. On more than one occasion did Mae want to strangle the damn thing or perhaps "accidentally" leave the cage and window open.

Turning to her backpack, she packs in a mere two minutes. Nothing was unpacked from when she first arrived. She had a feeling she wouldn't have wanted to stay very long. She was right. She sits on the uncomfortable bed and waits for the time for her brother to come knocking on her door. She looks at the clock; it reads 1:28 am. Rolling her eyes and huffing, she pulls out her sketch pad and kicks off her boots.

A wonderful thing her sketch pad is. It never fails her. It always has a blank page for her to draw on. She grabs her pencil and begins drawing.

First the picture starts as her brother, his mouth leaking a dark fluid. He's rabid in the picture, his arms are out in front of him. He's yelling something, nothing anyone can understand. He has the dark fluid on his clothing as well. The next image that forms on the paper is Mr. Johnson with his bloody shirt. His face in agony, Mrs. Johnson screaming next to him. The picture doesn't connect, so Mae draws a line between them. She must be more disturbed about Mr. Johnson than she originally thought. As for the drawing of Parker she thinks she sees him as a monster. She adds fangs, claws and fur. She elongates his legs and gives him a tail. Laying next to him is a woman; her stomach ripped open, bleeding out.

Mae blinks and stares at her creation. She smiles, holding back a chuckle. If werewolves were real, what would the world do? At this thought she laughs. The idea, who thought of the idea of werewolves. A man, turning into a wolf at the full moon? The idea is surely laughable. She adds the full moon, a field, and a pack of werewolves. She makes a face, not knowing the direction her drawing is going, she closes the book.

Turning back to the clock, she is surprised to see her drawing has taken four_ freaking_ hours. It is now 5:30 in the morning. Her back aches from sitting crouched over her book for so long. She stands and stretches. She keeps the noises coming from her mouth quiet in case her father is still sleeping. Still stretching she walks over to the window. She slips the curtains just enough to see the house on the other side of the street. Her view doesn't make it that far. She stares at the people standing in the middle of the road.

"Huh, I guess the people of this town like to do their morning exercises together. What a cute little town." She laughs to herself. There are about twenty or so people in the street. She watches the odd town's people do their morning routines. They don't do much though. They stand there sort of swaying from side to side, dragging their feet, possibly limping.

She watches as the neighbor across the street goes out to his car, ready for work, and waves to the people in the street. She hears him greet one as "Greg." Greg, along with the surrounding bystanders turn to the man. He smiles and waves once more. Slowly, Greg and his little group walk toward the man. Mae squints as she tries to see if what she is witnessing is actually happening or if she is exhausted from lack of sleep.

She hears a scream, a woman's scream. She moves the curtain fully open to see the entire street. She is startled to see there are more than the mere twenty people outside. The road is covered with people. She tries to locate the woman who screamed. Looking quickly back to the man and Greg, she is horrified to see the man covered in people. They squat around him, and she cant make out if she sees blood or not. The woman once again screams. This time Mae searches for the mouth the scream comes from and doesn't stop until she finds it.

Just down the block she sees a woman running, no not running, sprinting. The woman turns to look behind her but trips; her heels and tight pencil skirt are not for running. Mae covers her mouth with her hand and grabs for her locket, eyes wide watching in horror as the people chasing her kneel down and begin to claw, bite and tear her apart. Mae watches this happen to three other neighbors before she shuts the blinds. Not able to stand, her shaking knees will not allow it, she sits on the bed. _Boy was Parker right, she needs to go home._

Grabbing her back pack and lacing her boots, throwing on her jacket, she rushes down the stairs. Not caring if she wakes her father this time, she skids to a halt at the bottom. Before her is an open front door, a door that leads to the street with all of those people. She hears grunts, and moans coming from the kitchen. Not sure whether she should run back to her room or investigate the strange noises, she stands there. Sounds of chewing, liquid splashing, and something squishing win her curiosity.

Quietly she enters the kitchen. The sight before makes her want to vomit, along with the stench coming from the woman crouched in front of her. She is dressed in a suit, matching blazer and shoes. The woman's back is to Mae, but she can see the woman has blood all over her arms and legs. The floor around her is coated in the scarlet liquid.

Upon further notice, Mae sees that her brother is lying there beneath the woman with huge bites taken out of him. She can her him wither in agony. She wants to help him but knows it will be futile. A gasp escapes her which catches the woman's attention. Slowly she turns to face Mae. With eyes wide, feet glued to the ground and body shaking, Mae doesn't know what to do. She could scream but she doesn't know if anyone would hear her, she could run, but to where. Her chances aren't looking to good.

She steps back from the woman. Her whole front to drenched in blood, her hair is matted, bloody and falling out. Her lips...oh god... her lips aren't there! In the place of her are her teeth. It is as if the lips of this woman have melted away. Her eyes are sunken in, her skin is a yellow color. Mae stares for just a few moments longer.

"Oh, no. Oh, God." Mrs. Johnson stands before her. A bite on her neck, along with scratches on the arms. Mae knows from being a nurse that Mrs. Johnson tried to defend herself, but to no avail.

The woman standing in front of her starts coming toward Mae. Her first instinct is to run, and that's exactly what she planned on doing until she looks toward the front door.

"Oh my God." Mae knows she needs to get out and get out now. There in the doorway stand two more of the neighbors. They smell horrible, and are groaning, reaching toward Mae. She dashes around the woman, heading for the back door; which she finds clear of those people. Looking back, she notices the car keys on the counter. She could run and grab them, but will she make it to the car in time. Can she dodge the strangers in the kitchen? Will she even make it to the keys? A hand on the open door and a body facing the counter, Mae is at a stand still. Going for the keys would mean running straight for those people, giving them the opportunity to grab her, and probably eat her. Not going for the keys could mean her gruesome death, just at a later time.

Making a spit second decision, she runs back into the house, side steps the woman, and grabs the keys. Jumping away from Mrs. Johnson, in case she decides to eat Mae. The tickets to getting the car started jingle which makes the two other neighbors turn and come after her. The lucky thing is they move slow; slow enough to give Mae time to think before she acts. Standing on the bottom step she waits until the two men are closer to her but farther from the door. If she is going to make it out of this house, she can't have her only exit of survival blocked.

Running out the front door will be dangerous. The front door leads to a street of possibly a hundred or so of those _people_. She knows the backyard. she knows, is clear but she doesn't know if she will be able to survive long with out a car. She knows she needs to leave, she needs to get far away from this place. Her best shot of getting out of this town is getting to the car. Mae can run for a distance, but she will get winded, she will run out of energy. She can only run on adrenaline for so long. The car is the only option.

Taking her chances, she waits for the men to come closer. Slowly, seeing they have no competition, they make their way to Mae. Bouncing on her feet a bit, she readies herself. She freezes when she hears it. She hears her name; she hears a faint, weak voice saying her name. Looking toward the kitchen she knows her brother is still alive.

"No, Mae, he is a lost cause, there is nothing you can do for him now. You are not stupid, you know those bites are fatal, they have to be. No one can live through that much blood loss. You know you need to get out of here, so move your feet!" Her small pep talk makes her shift gears.

She dashes toward the front door when the men are where she wants them. They reach out for her, but being as slow as they are, she inches from their reach easily. Reaching the front door seemed like a good idea when she was inside, but now that she stands in the doorway she wishes she stayed in her room.

Getting to the front door was the easy park, getting to the car is a different story entirely. Seven people surround the car she needs to get to. She looks around for something to distract neighbors; and her distraction walks right up to her. Torn between her conscience and her need to survive, she looks down at the rather large dog. She lets out a deep breath.

"Mae, it is for you to survive. You need to get home. If these people get you, you die. Remember you want to die a little old, grumpy lady." She bends down to the German Shepard in front of her. She pets his head holding back her tears.

"You have been a vegetarian for seven years now, Mae. I know it's hard but it's to survive! One animal, just one animal. Just- Ah!" Some one comes up behind her and grabs her hair. Looking up, she sees one of the men from inside. She has taken to long. Reaching for his hand she breaks the wrist. She can tell it doesn't effect him pain wise, but his grip lets up just enough to rip her hair away. Turning to the dog, she grabs his front leg, says sorry, and breaks the bone. The dog lets out a pained yelp, which catches the attention to the people around Mae's destination. Making their was toward the dog, Mae slips around the car to the passenger side.

Sliding the key in the car door, she hops in, switches seats and starts 1991 dark green Ford Taurus. The engine is loud, the only sound on the street, save for the groaning and distant screams. The neighbors standing around the car turn toward Mae. She locks the door in case they still know how to open them. Taking a second to breathe, she closes her eyes. The bangs on the car start soft but grow louder as more people start banging. Putting the stick in reverse, she backs out of the driveway. Trying her hardest not to hit the people try to kill her.

Finally in the street she puts the car in drive. Standing in front of her is a group of the neighbors. She honks the horn, hoping to move the people, but to no avail does this plan work.

"Move! I'll have to hit you if you don't!" She screams in frustration, not wanting to hurt them, as they are still people, right? She waits until they move. She watches as they begin to bang on the glass just like in the drive way, though this time there are double the amount of people at the car. She honks the horn once more, but it has the same effect as before. She is about to honk again, when she notices it is making more of the people come to the car.

Not knowing what other choice she can make, she puts the car in drive. Hitting a few people, hoping she hadn't hurt them to badly, she drives down the street. Unfamiliar with the town she is in, she makes random turns down streets that have few people on them. The names of the roadways she goes on mean nothing to her. She just turns when she sees a street less crowded than the next.

As she continues to drive, she notices the amount of people walking around. It seems to not just be in her father's neighborhood. It seems to be everywhere. She has been driving for quite some time now. She has no idea of how to get to an airport. She needs to get home. She just drives.

"Last time I come to America." She mumbles to herself. As she stops at a red light she takes a moment to think about what has just happen. People of the neighborhood are in the street, walking around eating other people. No, that's insane. The people of the neighborhood are walking aimlessly in the street, and eating other people? That doesn't make sense. Why would people eat other people? There is enough food in America that people don't need to eat one another. These people seem sick, they have wounds that look more than infected. Could an illness from a few bites go viral? Surely not.

The light turns green and Mae moves on.

Driving for what seems like a hour she comes across a gas station. She pulls in the parking lot and up to a pump. She waits for a man to come and help her but she finds that the gas station is empty. Mae gets out of the car and pumps the gas herself. She knows enough about cars to know how to pump gas.

"What is going on?" Mae ties her hair up in a ponytail. She waits for the meter to read full which doesn't take long at all. Looking around again she sees no one to pay. She walks to the little store connected to the gas pumps.

The little bell rings as she opens the door. Calling out hello, she is responded with silence. She grips her locket, hoping to feel something other then fear. She doesn't. The silence is unsettling. She knows she is not alone. She knows someone else is in the store with her. She begins walking the aisles. Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. She stopped at this gas station in particular because she hasn't seen any of the sick people around. She hasn't seen them for miles.

She calls out a hello once more, determined to find whoever else is in here with her. This time she gets a "help me" in return to her hello. Looking around she still sees no one. She looks to the floor in front of the third aisle is where she sees the trail of red. Mae follows the red lines until they lead her to the boy behind the counter. She doesn't take another step when she sees the person laying on the floor.

"Don't worry about him, miss. I killed him. Please help." Just for good measure Mae kicks the man laying face down with the tip of her boot. Noting the he doesn't move or make a sound, she rushes to the boy's side.

"What happened? Were you bit?" The boy looked at Mae in terror. His dark brown eyes look at her with trust. He looks at her, trusting his life with her. He nods his head slowly. Mae knows she is not hiding the fear on her face very well because the boy lets a few tears slide down his cheeks. Where is the nurse from back at home? Where did she go? This is not normal behavior for her. She clears her face of any emotion.

"Sweetie, you will be fine. Now, where did you get bit?" He points to his shoulder. He sits up to show her. And show her he does. His back is drenched in blood. The amount is so thick, his shirt is no longer white, but black with the sticky substance. Her hands are instantly covered in it. Taking the knife laying beside her, this must be what he used to kill that man, she tears the cloth over his shoulder with shaking hands. She holds in the whimper that fights it's way to her lips.

"Don't worry, I can fix this for you." There is no way he can survive this without medical attention; real medical attention, not some nurse who happened upon him. The boy goes slack and falls forward in her arms. Quickly pushing him away she sees his eyes closed and jaw limp. She lays him back on the floor, gently. His chest does not rise nor does it fall. His body is still. The young boy of what looks to be sixteen or seventeen, is dead.

She checks for a pulse just in case. She checks it twice just to be absolutely sure. She doesn't want him to wake up alone if he isn't actually dead. Nothing, not even a weak heart beat. Sighing she stands, walking around the counter she grabs a basket. She walks the aisles looking for items that she may need for the long road before her. Water, food, medicine, and anything else she can find.

Not even a full twenty minutes later she hears it. She hears that horrifying noise. The grunting and growling starts. Ducking down, she gets low. If it is just one she can easily get out to her car, but if it is anything like back at her father's house, she's in trouble. She crouches there, listening for the location of the noises.

Not able to pin point the sound, Mae stands. She looks around but sees no one. She is alone. Could she be imagining these noises because she is so scared? No, no, she definitely heard them. She checks the front door. Nothing. No one is on the road, or in the parking lot. No one is here.

She looks around the store to see if the person got in without her noticing. Aisle by aisle she creeps around, but nothing. The noises start again. With her back to the front of the store she knows that is the only place they could be coming from and she hates herself for knowing. The dead man next to that boy! He must not have been as dead as she hoped. She turns to reveal a horrifying sight.

He is up and walking. He being the young boy who had just died twenty minutes ago. His eyes are pale white, not the brown they had been before. It's like a glossy film has covered them. Mae stands in terror, not knowing how this could have happened. She checked his pulse. Twice! That boy was... no... is dead. It is impossible for him to be up and walking. He should be on the ground slowly going into rigor mortis.

His body starts moving, jerking towards Mae. She doesn't move, she is to shocked to move. He couldn't have been playing a joke on her, he lost to much blood to even stand. Coming from his mouth are those horrible noises. He is definitely the one who was making the noises from before. He keeps coming toward her, his jaw opens and closes, his fists clench and unclench, but his eyes; his eyes stay focused on Mae's face.

She bends down grabbing the basket full of what she needs and dashes out the door. Pulling the gas pump out of her car, she jumps in, sets the basket in the passenger's seat and starts the car. Mae looks back at the store. The boy is limping out trying to catch up with her. Casting her eyes to the road, she steps on the gas. Flying down the road, Mae hits 95. Her hands are shaking, her cheeks are covered in tears, and her breath is coming out in hiccups.

She turns on the radio, hoping to take her mind off of the boy. Nothing but static comes through the speakers. Punching the power button, she focuses on the road ahead. Where is she going? She has no idea where she is. There are no signs to indicate the location. There is only field after field. She looks down at her hands. They are coated in blood, red and sticky. A sob reaches her throat. With that sob, more follow. Soon, she has to pull over because she can no longer see. The tears run down her face in a constant flow.

"That boy was dead! He had no pulse!" She screams in what feels like anger, or maybe it is panic. He stood up after all that blood loss. His heart didn't beat. His chest was still. He was dead! What if that is what's going on? The dead are coming back to life. That would make sense if the world lived in a science fiction book. People coming back from the _beyond_ and eating other people. The dead eating the living? Is that possible? No. It is not possible.

Maybe she has to accept that that is what is happening. But how? How can the dead come back? Sure, if given CPR or on the operation table, using the defibrillators, they could come back. But that is only after a few short minutes with help. That boy lay dead on the ground for fifteen whole minutes and came back. He got up! It's not possible.

She puts the radio on once more, this time looking for a station that is broadcasting the news. The only thing she can find is a barely there emergency recording. She has to struggle to hear it, but she does.

"_To the people out there who are still alive, and we mean actually alive, a refugee center is located in the city of Atlanta. If you are in the Georgia area, come to Atlanta at once. The living are here. Again, if you are in the Georgia area, come to Atlanta. This message will repeat in thirty seconds."_

Atlanta. That's where Mae is headed now. She just has to figure where she is. She has to be around the state of Georgia. Her father lives in South Carolina, which boarders Georgia. Mae is praying she drove toward the peach state and not away from it. Her bloody hands grip the steering wheel again, her foot presses on the gas, and the car goes forward, not stopping until it reaches another town, which luckily it does.

The car rolls into the town of Chandler. There is no silence. The sound of the dead, as Mae is now calling them, is everywhere. The car needs gas, but there is no way of stopping here. Mae would be caught in no time. The car crawls through the teeny town to not draw much attention. The Taurus has a quarter of a tank left. She prays it is enough to get her to safety. Not to Atlanta, but somewhere safe for a little bit. She just needs to get far enough away from these things, find gas, and sleep.

The thought of boarding up a house crosses her mind. It would be a logical plan. She just needs to find a house, and some wood. Maybe that could work. Maybe she has a chance, if she is careful. Maybe she will live through this. Wood. That is the mission as of now. Fuel and where she is comes second. Wood. She needs to board up a house.

As she drives through the town, she looks for a nice quiet house. A house that looks undisturbed. A house that looks safe. She brings the car to a stop when she spots a house with the windows blocked out with what looks like wood, and possibly blankets.

She parks in the driveway, careful not to attract any of the dead. Looking out the windows before exiting the car, she makes sure the coast is clear. There is only three of the dead on this lawn and their backs are to her. She makes a run for the front door. It is about ten in the morning, so if anyone is in here, surely they will be up.

She gets to the door safely, no trouble at all. Trying to get the people's attention is what will be tricky. It's not like she can ring the door bell or use the door knocker. Before she even lifts a hand to knock on the door, it opens. A gun is pointed in her face, her eyes never leave the barrel. The holder of the gun could have been one of the dead and Mae wouldn't have noticed.

"You bit?" The question comes out in a gruff, tired voice. Mae shakes her head. She tries to find her voice, but it has seem to be out of order, great time too. Her teeth chatter, her fear of guns may out weigh her fear of those sick people out on the street. The man never lowers his weapon, instead he motions to her a "come in" signal.

Once inside the house, Mae is grabbed, gagged, and tied to a bed. Tears come to the surface of her eyes. Thinking of only one thing, she prepares herself for the worst. She has been in this situation before. The memory flashes before she eyes. She can no longer see the men, she only see the man on top of her; a man she should have been able to trust.

It takes a few minutes before she can actually see in real time. The men standing in front of her are tall, large, and tough looking. She could see them killing her right here, right now if they wanted to. She hopes they don't. She hopes they have the humanity to keep her alive. She could be helpful to them. Sure, she can cook and clean. That will be her argument if she's allowed one.

"We're gonna check you. You got it? We're gonna check under your clothes to make sure you don't got any bites or nothing." Mae nods understanding their hostility. The dead are out there, now is a time to panic. The gun never leaves her head. The man holding it never leaves her side. As the other men check her, she tries to calm herself down. She made it inside of the house, that's what counts. If she dies now, at least she won't come back. She will be shot, and that will be that.

Seeming satisfied, the men step away from her, all but the man with the gun; he never moves. Each stare at her with no hostility but curiosity. They found no bites, so why won't they untie her. She has no injury what so ever. She looks from man to man, each looking scarier than the next.

"We're gonna keep you tied up until tomorrow morning. I will take out the gag though. We want to hear your story." Mae nods once more. The man taking off the gag is gentle enough. She watches the man with the gun. Terrified his finger might slip, or he might just kill her, she never takes her eyes off the little black demon.

"Michael, put down the damn gun. She's tied up, she ain't gonna hurt no one." The man, Michael, lowers the weapon. At least one of them doesn't see her as a threat.

"If you get a fever, we're going to kill you, got it? You make it till the morning, you stay with us." Mae doesn't understand the part about the fever, but she is glad she is healthy as a horse right now. She knows she won't get any fever, she wasn't bit. Trying to make sense of this fever part in her head, she stares at the ceiling. So, a person gets bit, gets a fever, then what, they just get up and start eating people?

"Where you from?" The question brings Mae out of her thoughts.

"Not here, I live in the UK." They all laugh. The laughter is not if mirth, but of sorrow.

"Well sweetheart, you picked a bad time to visit the US then." Mae smiled, boy did she know.

Should she trust these men enough to sleep with them here? Would they kill her in her sleep? She looks at each of the men. They all look tired. They must be just as exhausted as she is. If she falls asleep, maybe they will too.

"When did you guys get here?" This time she asks the question.

"Same time as you just about. We boarded the house earlier, but it attracted the deadies." They must have noticed her face because they smiled. Deadies, what a weird word.

"Well, you must not have seen what happens when you get bit. You get a fever and die, then you come back as a dead bastard." Well that confirms her idea of what is happening. They really are coming back from the dead.

She must have been dead tired, excuse the pun, because the next image she sees is Michael and his group untying her. Each have a smile on their face as one of them say "Welcome to the group, girl."

* * *

**Here is a little preview of what is to come next chapter! Enjoy!**

**"Daryl! He's here! Please." Her cries are the only thing cause him to stop and that is because they sound so close. They sound almost too close. Turning around he sees her. The man who attacked him earlier has a fistful of her hair and a knife at her throat. Not knowing what to do, he stands there; his blood frozen and heart beating furiously. He hears her soft whimpers, but hair covers her face.**

**"You're too late, Daryl." With that, he glides the knife smoothly across the girl's throat causing a water fall of blood to cover her front.**


	2. Daryl's Entrance

Disclaimer: I do not own _The Walking Dead_, just like I do not own Daryl Dixon, Merle Dixon, Jess Collins, Jimmy Blake, Warren, or Lucky Les. I do not own any character mentioned in _T__he Walking Dead._

This chapter may seem a bit rushed but I wanted to get to this one over with. I want to have Mae and Daryl meet. So forgive me if this chapter is boring, or just bad in general. It follows the game _The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct._

In the next chapter the two will meet, so just hang in there.

* * *

The sound of a shot gun fills the air. Being on a mountain has its advantages but sometimes not so much. The loud sound echoes across the woods. He shakes his head as he hears two more go off. He fully stops when he hears another two. _What the hell is goin' on?_ is the only thing he can think of. _If you don't hit target the first _maybe_ two times, you ain't gonna it it the next three times. _Shaking his head, he continues on with his hunt, hoping that moron in the woods didn't scare away his deer.

The sound of the leaves crunching and twigs breaking under his feet are the only noise in the woods surrounding him now. His eyes scan the ground below. Seeing no trace of the animal, he moves on. The woods are like home to him. The trees provide shelter from the sun, the bushes give cover for stalking prey, the dirt brings foot prints to it's surface. The world surrounding him is the only place he ever wants to be.

Cities piss him off. They are loud, fast moving, and all around nasty; not that he himself is not nasty. He is not a nice person by any means, but he does have his moments. He was raised by his never there brother, a brother who was in and out of juvenile detention every second of his childhood. He thinks he grew up into a pretty nice man, with what a shitty life he has had, he grew up to an outstanding man.

Walking silently, he finds a trail. Smiling to himself, he follows the tiny footprints of the deer. The gun shots must not have scared him off. The buck he had been following previously is not one he wants to lose. He keeps track of him by his antlers; he is missing the tip of his left one. He is a big, muscular animal, not one to be taken down easily, unless shot correctly. As the deer comes into his view he crouches behind some bushes, hiding himself from the magnificent creature. Lifting his crossbow to it's proper position, he takes aim.

The arrow flies straight. It should have impaled the buck's chest, but instead the flying arrow lodges itself into a tree trunk. Just as the arrow leaves home, a piercing scream erupts from somewhere close by. The scream scares the buck, sending him dashing away and the arrow into the thick trunk of the tree which stands behind it.

"Son of a bitch!" He stalks forward ripping the flying assailant out of the large sapling it should not have hit. Tempted to break the damn thing, he throws it. He can not break another one, not after he just bought these arrows. The buck was right there! He could have taken it down in one arrow if that woman hadn't screamed. What did she see anyway? A squirrel?

Making his way back, he kills a few animals for dinner, not too many just enough for two men. His uncle Jess is staying at his house for the week. He never asks his uncle why he stays for he never really cares. His uncle isn't too bad, he's a quiet guy, not too much trouble. His lot on the trek home consists of three squirrels and a small turkey. Tonight will be a nice dinner.

He doesn't always hunt for dinner, nor does he have to. He usually just buys his food in the little town at the bottom of the hill he lives on. Hunting gives him a thrill like nothing else can. He's free when he walks through the woods. His foot steps silent, his prey unknowing, his breathing barley there. He goes hunting when he's mad, happy, upset, or just bored. It doesn't matter what mood the man is in, he is always up for a good hunt.

As he approaches his small house, he notices the lights are on inside. His uncle must be here already. It must be later than he thought. He left the house today at eight this morning, but didn't think he would be out as long as he was. Once he saw that buck, he knew he had to get him, no matter how long it took. Although once his arrow missed he knew he was too tired to track down the buck again. He would have passed out before he ever tracked it down again.

Uncle Jess had called earlier this week telling his nephew of his need to stay with him. He never mentioned the reason of need to leave his wife and kids to stay with his nephew. His request was granted, as always, with no objections. It gets lonely living in the woods sometimes. Every once in a while the man needs company.

Kicking his boots off at the door, he steps inside his house. The smell of cigarettes fills the air, an expected thing in his house. Yup, his uncle is definitely here, the smoke is still fresh. He sets his crossbow down on the kitchen table along with his fresh kills. Peering into the tiny living room, he sees his uncle asleep on the recliner. He can see his little balding head just over the top of the chair. Fully stepping into the room he notices his father sleeping on the couch next to the window. His feet hang off the edge, one arm over his eyes, the other across his stomach.

Scoffing, he walks back to the front door he had left open, and slams it shut, making sure his father jumps awake. His father sits up straight, grabbing his shot gun as well. He looks around but sees no immediate danger, just his sleepy brother on the recliner next to him and his dirty, sweaty son standing in the kitchen. An irritated noise comes out of his throat. He just wanted to surprise his son after a year of absence, was that to much to ask? The boy needs his father sometimes, right?

"You're back so soon, Daryl." The man, Daryl, walks into the living room. He nods a hello to his uncle, who also jumped from the door, but ignores his father. That man isn't worth even the dirt on the bottom of Daryl's boots. His father is not an expected guest. He has been missing from Daryl's life since Daryl left home fourteen years ago. His father has a habit of showing up at unexpected times. Was he welcome in Daryl's home? Of course not. Did he care? _Of_ course not.

"Some assholes scared away my deer. Nice one too, could have lasted a good week." His voice stays low and gruff. Although he was there more in his childhood than Merle, Daryl has, and always will hold a grudge against his dad. He was a terrible father. Always drunk, always beating Daryl and Merle. Would he win father of the year? No, not in a million years.

Daryl looked out for himself when he was a kid, he was able to go out in the woods and be safe. He was able to go to the small school at the bottom of the hill and not get into fights. He was able to get a job at at the age of fifteen and drop out of high school to focus on that job. He hid that money from his father though; knowing damn well that cash would be spent on beer and possibly drugs. He earned his money and the moment he had enough he bought himself his crossbow. His weapon has fed him for years now, and he couldn't be more grateful to it. The hours spent learning how to aim, shoot, reload and actually hit a target are ones he will never regret. His knowledge of using the crossbow is one of Daryl's proudest achievements.

His father was rarely in a good mood during childhood, and Daryl knew when he had a bad day at the shop because those nights were the worst. The belt would whip across his face, his hands, and his behind more times than he could count. The blood would stain his clothes, and the bruises wouldn't fade for weeks at a time. The metal pole was his father's favorite though. That damn thing left scars all over his back. Sometimes he would even heat it up and just put the sizzling metal on Daryl's back.

His father has made him a tougher man, he can not deny that. He isn't as tough as his brother but then again he hasn't been in juvi and he hasn't been in as many fights. He's not like his brother at all. He may have been "raised" by Merle but does not want to be like him by any means.

"Why're you here?" His question is directed to his father. Having enough of the man for his life time, he doesn't see a reason for him to be here. Leaving his vest on the back of the recliner his uncle is lying on, he leans against the wall. A scowl covers his face, making it obvious that his father is not welcome.

"I thought you, me, and your good ol' uncle Jess could go huntin'" His eyes intent on his father's face, he huffs. His father must have no money to buy drugs or booze and is coming to his son for help. Daryl does not have much money by any means, but he does have a few bucks to call his own. He earns his money and if his father thinks he can just show up every now and again and take it, he's in for a rude awakening. His uncle, who seems to be just rousing out of his sleep looks at his nephew.

"There you are, been wonderin' where you been kid." Daryl points to the kitchen table, as to say "I've been out getting dinner." Both men strain to look at the table. Daryl's father makes a face, while his uncle smiles at him. Shaking his head, Daryl walks towards his room. Ready for a night of well deserved sleep, but he doesn't make it half way there when his uncle speaks again.

"You hear them screams?" No, he only heard one. Were there more but he just didn't hear them? No, there was only one, he is sure. He would have heard the others. His face must have give his confusion away because his uncle continues

"Yeah, boy they were loud. Scary even. Went on for 'bout three hours. Messin' up my nap. " Grunting, Daryl walks to his room. If there were more screams than the one he heard, they were in his uncle's head. Daryl would have head them no matter what, he was hunting which means he was listening to every sound the forest was making.

Wait, maybe that's it. He was listening to the_ woods_, not the_ people_ in the woods. He was listening for the animals walking across the leaves, and listening to the wind hit the trees, but he was not listening for people screaming.

"Boy, who's gonna clean these animals?" His father shouts from his place on the couch. That man can piss Daryl off with just the sight of him. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he answers

"You two can clean the damn things. I'm goin' to bed. I ain't hungry." He walks into his small, plain room. Shutting the door, he leans against it. He hates when his father visits. It always ends up with the two of them fighting. He knows tomorrow will be nothing but a waste of a day. His father can hunt, sure, but can he hunt well? Absolutely not. Daryl had taught himself, he hadn't learned it from his father. Even Merle couldn't hunt well. Their footsteps are to heavy and they wheeze after a mile of walking.

Taking off his shirt and pants, he slips into bed. He's exhausted from today's hunt. All he needs now is sleep to come and take him away. It does, fairly quickly.

_ His dreams consist of the buck he had been tracking, and the scream he heard. The scream turns into screams. The screams are not just from the woman but from children and men as well. They scream as if their lives depend on it. They scream like it is the last thing they will ever do. His buck will not move in his dream. It is as if he doesn't hear the blood curdling screams at the other end of the forest. He is standing by the small pond Daryl is familiar with. The buck leans his head down to drink the water. His tail flicks this way and that. Daryl is undetected by this creature._

_Dream Daryl aims his Horton, this time the buck will not get away. His finger pulls the trigger, but his arrow does not hit the deer. Instead it flies into the air, while he is pinned to the ground by a man. The man savagely tries to get his hands around Daryl's neck. Knowing enough to fight back, Daryl kicks the man off. He gets to his feet, grabbing for his hunting knife only to find that it is not in its sheath. He notices the screams have stopped._

_"Shit." Daryl jumps away from the man's advances. He knows he needs to find away to get away from the man since killing him really isn't an option. But, maybe it is. He is in a dream after all, so killing the man is an option, a horrible option, but an option none the less. Keeping an eye on his attacker, he searches the ground for a rock. A rock big enough to do some damage. His attacker gets closer than Daryl would like, almost to close for Daryl to get away. He falls to the ground, tripping over a rock that will be perfect for bashing this asshole's skull in._

_He lifts himself off the ground, taking the rock with him. He waits for the man to get just a little closer. Ready to strike, the man disappears. Daryl looks around, making sure he doesn't pop up behind him. Hearing and seeing nothing, he drops his weapon. He turns to make is way back to his house when he hears a scream. This isn't a scream like before. This scream is of his name._

_"Daryl! Daryl! Please! Help me!" He stands frozen, unable to move even his eyes. His breath becomes shallow. He has never heard this voice before. It is a female's voice, not too young, but not old either. He hears it again, but this time she is crying. Without hesitation he runs toward the voice. Hoping he is running in the right direction, he pushes his legs to move faster than they can. Her cries sound closer now. His lungs burn, his legs ache, but he refuses to stop; not now, not when he can hear her soft cries._

_"Daryl! He's here! Please." Her cries are the only thing cause him to stop and that is because they sound so close. They sound almost too close. Turning around he sees her. The man who attacked him earlier has a fistful of her hair and a knife at her throat. Not knowing what to do he stands there; his blood frozen and heart beating furiously. He hears her soft whimpers, but hair covers her face. Nothing distinguishable can be seen. She's in black and white, so not even the color of her hair can be named. She could be anyone. A dark chuckle comes from the man._

_"You're to late, Daryl." With that, he glides the knife smoothly across the girl's throat causing a water fall of blood to cover her front._

He jolts up from bed. Sweat covers his chest, back and forehead. He looks at the clock and sees that it is seven in the morning. He can not go back to sleep now, not after that dream. He stretches and lets out a loud yawn. He can feel the sweat and dirt from yesterday. He needs a shower and now is a great time for one.

Getting out of bed, he grabs the towel he threw on his floor two days ago and walks straight to the bathroom. The water doesn't get to hot but warm enough to take a comfortable shower. The water comes out of the shower head weak from the terrible water pressure. Daryl strips of all clothes and steps in. His body immediately feels at ease. The warm water massaging his aching muscles. He uses a tiny bit of soap and lathers it all over his body. His sleepy eyes close form the warmth the water brings him, but they instantly open when he sees the blood flow down the girl's neck.

Finishing his shower more quickly than usual, he gets out and covers the lower half of himself with his towel. He wipes away the little steam that covers the mirror. He is in need of a shave and bad. He lathers some soap on his face, and picks up his dull razor. The blades glide across his face leaving not a smooth surface but a less rough one. His stubble is almost always present, his face never actually smooth. He brushes his teeth, and walks back to his room. Today will be a horrible day, out in the woods with his father. _Oh boy._

He dresses and looks around his room. He searches for his small pistol. He doesn't ever use it but it doesn't hurt to carry it with him. Once he finds the gun he steps quietly out into the living room. Maybe he can get out of the house without his father knowing. Keeping his feet light, he slips through the living room and into the kitchen. Great, all there is is the front door and he's free. He doesn't see his uncle's gun laying on the floor, so when he trips on it, he lets out a string of curses. This causes both his father and uncle to jolt up once again. His father reaches for his gun but stops short when he sees his son.

"What the hell are you doin' boy? It's to damn early to be awake." Daryl takes a deep breath to calm himself. He waits until the urge to kick his father's teeth in is gone. He waits until it is safe for him to speak. Turning to his father, he watches him struggle to get off of the small couch he slept on. Old age must not have been kind to him because he grunts, and heaves himself out of a sitting position.

"You ain't up to huntin'. You can't even get out of that chair." Daryl's uncle speaks. He teases his big brother which earns him a glare. Trying to prove his little brother wrong, Daryl's father stands up quickly. He sways slightly but that is from the alcohol still in his system. Daryl rolls his eyes knowing for sure that his father will, by any costs, come hunting now. Turning to the table where his cross bow lay, he pulls out a chair. He sits with his head in his hands, and waits for his elders to get ready.

He notices his hands shake. His mind replays the girl's screams. His name bellowed from her throat, her pleas for him to save her. That dream is one of the most realistic and vivid dreams he has ever had. He shakes his head, ridding his brain of her screams. He reaches out and grabs his crossbow. Pulling out the red cloth from his back pocket, he begins cleaning his prized possession.

It doesn't take long for his father and uncle to get ready, only ten minutes or so. As they pull on their hunting vests, Daryl steps outside to put his boots on. As he laces them, he listens to his hunting partners banter back and forth about who is going to get the most kills. Scoffing he stands up and looks back to them. Both laugh and playfully punch each other. They wont get any kills behaving like that. Any animal in a twenty foot radius will run for the hills when they notice his father and uncle are in the woods.

He enters the thick band of trees, knowing his two drunk buddies are following. He hears their heavy foot steps, and their loud snickering. Knowing there aren't many animals in the mouth of the woods, Daryl doesn't worry to much. When they get into the heart of the woods, is when he will need to ditch the brothers.

"Hey, Daryl! We have a bet. You wont catch a thing with us out here. We'll get all the kills, and leave you none. What do you say? You get even one kill, we'll both give you fifty bucks. You don't get anything, you give us each fifty." His father's voice carries through the trees. He's got one thing right, Daryl won't get any kills, but not for lack of trying or skill, but because he has two morons following him. He knows he can win the bet easy which is why he doesn't make a deal. He refuses to make any bets he can win easy. There is no fun in it.

"What do you say, son?" His father loads his shotgun, and stumbles over the raised root of a tree. Daryl makes a note to himself that once he hits the small creek he will leave behind his two followers.  
" I ain't makin' no bets." Huffing, he moves on. His feet are expertly placed in places which cause him no noise. Though this is all in vain since the four feet behind him sound like a herd of elephants. He hears the running water of the small creek ahead. Thinking to himself _"Thank God,"_ he turns to his father and uncle. They stop short seeing their leader staring at them.

"You two go west. I'm goin' north. We'll meet up when the sun is just settin'." They nod to him, surprisingly they don't argue. Daryl turns back to the creek. He follows it north, just until the gap in the forest. This is where the creek turns into a small pond and animals gather. It's easy pickings but it gets the job done. Finding the bush he normally hides in, he waits. The trees give him enough shade that he isn't in any danger of passing out, but not enough to keep him from sweating like a pig.

Wiping his brow, he hears foot steps, after what seems like two hours. They are so light he immediately knows they do not belong to a human. They belong to a deer but not just any deer. They belong to the buck from yesterday. Daryl knows this is the same one because the tip of his left antler is missing. The buck slowly walks towards the pond. He dips his head down, setting his lips to the water. His tail flicks back and forth. Daryl raises his Horton to aim, but suddenly stops. His dream.

He listens for human footsteps, listens for the man that may attack him. He hears nothing, just the bucks feet rustle the leaves below him. No screams either. The woods are silent, almost too silent. He doesn't move. He just sits there in fear. He doesn't want to hear that girl scream for him. He doesn't want to run after her. He can not see her be killed again. He sits there frozen, his limbs will not move, no matter how hard he tries. The buck continues to drink from the pond. He does not know Daryl is struggling to move, to kill him.

Eventually Daryl gets a hold of himself. He aims his weapon to the spot he wants his arrow to hit. Closing one eye and looking through the crossbow's cross heir, he makes sure the placement is just right. When he is satisfied, he pulls the trigger. The arrow hits home. The buck doesn't even take a full step by the time he hits the ground. A small smile of achievement covers the lower half of his face. He finally took down this deer.

He's about to step out of his bushes when he hears his name. It is being yelled so loud, the birds leave the trees. He waits for the sound to come again and it does. His dream, could it be coming true? His feet do not move. Gun shots go off. He takes deep breaths, but when his name fills the air once more, he stops breathing. The screams are coming from a man, not a girl. They are not filled with fear, or desperation, but of urgency. Daryl runs in the direction of his uncle's calls.

Not long after he leaves the pond he finds his uncle. His eyes immediately go to his father, who is lying on the ground. The first thing he notices is his father's stomach torn apart. His shirt covered in blood and what looks like the inside of his stomach. There are two men covered in the red stuff, laying on the ground next to him, a bullet hole going through each of their skulls. Looking from his uncle to his father then back to his uncle again, he sees no sense in this picture. Why are there two dead men, and why is his father bleeding out?

His uncle turns to him. His arm has a huge hole in it. Daryl steps cautiously near them, not knowing what is going to happen next. Did his uncle just kill two men? If he did, what was his reason? Looking back to his father he cringes. He may not have a relationship with his father, nor does he respect him, but he doesn't want to see his father like this. He knows there is no way his father will survive this. The wound is too bad.

Daryl kneels to his father's side, wanting to comfort him, but doesn't exactly find the words. His uncle Jess bends down and tries to pull Daryl up. He will not move.

"Daryl, he's too busted up." So uncle Jess sees it too. He sees that his brother is not going to make it. He sees that Daryl's father is going to die.

"Nothing can be done now except ease his suffering." Daryl stands and cocks his gun. He raises his shaking hand but he can't pull the trigger. He may hate his dad but he can't kill him. Would his uncle really ask him of that? He looks toward Jess and he finds his answer. Daryl must shoot his father.

He tries for a second time. His hand once again shakes. His finger stays poised on the trigger but he can not bring himself to pull it. He lowers his hand to his side as if to tell his uncle that he will not kill his father. Jess shakes his head and glares at his nephew. Daryl keeps his head down. Jess grabs the gun out of his hand. Daryl looks up at him then backs away. He doesn't want to watch his father be shot in the head. The man is a dick but he doesn't deserve to be put down like an animal.

Instead of watching, he walks away. He hears his uncle say "sorry, brother" then the gun goes off. Daryl keeps walking and doesn't stop until he reaches his house. His uncle follows him, yelling his name. The hike back is a long one. His uncle tries to get his attention the entire time, but Daryl wants nothing to do with him. He expected him the shoot his own father.

He steps through the front door but doesn't close it. He uncle will just open it anyway. He doesn't take off his boots this time either. Walking straight to the bathroom, he slams the door in his uncle's face. He killed three men today, in the course of what could have been two minutes. Daryl goes straight toward the sink. He turns the tap on and fills his hands with cold water. He throws it on his face, just to make sure everything that just happened is real.

When his hands leave his face, he looks at himself in the mirror. He's disappointed to know that what just happened is real, and not part of the horrifying dream he had last night. The picture next to his bathroom mirror makes him angry._ Merle_. Where the fuck is he?

Daryl looks at the picture and has a burst of anger, which he relives by punching the glass. It shatters, covering his hand in both shards and blood. When he opens the door, he finds his uncle sitting on the living room sofa. Daryl leans up against the wall, waiting for him to explain. When he doesn't Daryl speaks.

"You ever seen anything like that?"

"If you told me about it, I'd call you a liar." Jess scratches his wound. It looks nasty. There is blood splatter all over the orange vest he is wearing. Daryl can't tell if it is his or his fathers. It could very well be from the two other dead men at the scene. There are noises from outside. It almost sounds like grunts and groans. The sound of a trash can is heard being knocked over.

"Listen! There's more of them comin'."

"We gotta go!"

"The only thing we need to do is kill every last one of them."

"Daryl, I know you're upset, but just listen, that sounds like a whole lot of them. We need to go now. Gather up as much supplies as we can and get to the truck."

"Let's go then." If this is such an emergency, then why is his uncle talking so much? Daryl grabs two water bottles, and some food. He runs into his room and looks for his two hunting knives. Finding them quickly, he grabs the small knife he usually carries, closes it and shoves it in his pocket. Anything else they might need they will have to pick up on the road.

When he gets back into the living room his uncle is still there. He is looking out the window. The groans are still there, a few bangs come through the door. Looks like they want to come in. His uncle turns around and holds out his hands.

"Look, they bit your father, so there is definitely something wrong. I shot one in the chest but he kept coming for me. The only thing that actually kills them is trauma to the brain which is all I know. When you sneak out the back door look for fuel, and if any come near you shoot, or stab them in the head. Got it?"

Daryl nods. Yeah, he understands, but why are these people eating other people? Jess is the first to leave. He opens and closes the door silently. Daryl walks over to the window and slides open the curtains. There are what looks like twenty of them out there, maybe even more. Waiting until he can not see his uncle anymore, he opens the door. He sees a person facing away from him, eating what looks like a dead squirrel. Daryl walks noiselessly up behind the man and stabs him in the head. He's quick to duck down before any of the other people see him.

On his way to the truck he runs into a few more people, but takes them down just the same as the other one. He grabs some fuel that is laying around and meets Jess back at the truck. They set off immediately, not looking back. They stay on the back roads, until the hit the little town of Sedalia. An argument broke out about finding Merle. His uncle didn't like the idea of looking for him, but Daryl wouldn't have it. He is getting his brother and they are going to survive this.

They stop on the outskirts of town because the entry way is blocked off by cars and trucks. They need gas, and this is the first town they hit so far. The place is a ghost town. No one is around, and Daryl hopes that includes those dead people. He calls them dead because the only way to kill them is through the brain, if they are shot any where but the head it doesn't affect them. No one could survive a shot to the chest at blank range.

His uncle stays in the car. He said he isn't feeling well and that he will just slow Daryl down. As he walks through town he sees dead bodies laying around. Kicking them to make sure they don't move, he continues on. He sees the gas station but the road is too blocked off to get there. He has to walk through a few stores and even climb onto a roof just to get there.

On the roof he finds a man named Jimmy Blake. He tells Daryl about the _biters,_ and how he is the only man standing in the town. He tells him about how more and more biters come everyday, and that he doesn't know how it happened. He informs Daryl of a kid held up in a gas station, which is where Daryl is headed anyway.

"I want to do one last radio check before I bug out. But the batteries died two days back, can't find any up here. If you could get me some, I'd be in your debt." Daryl agrees to get the sheriff some batteries if he can. His first objective is to get gas to get out of here. Only, what the cop said is true. The survivors should stick together and help one another. This means Daryl should get that kid that's trapped in the gas station.

Leaving the cop on the roof, he ventures out into the street. Biters, as he now calls them, come at him in every direction. He runs through town trying to find somewhere he can hide just so he can figure out how to handle them. One thing is for sure, he can not be bit by any of them. He finds a truck and trailer that he can climb on to. Praying they can not climb, he makes his way up. The gas station is directly ahead, a short run if he can make it there without being seen.

He loses the group of biters when he climbs up on the truck. They don't look up, so as of now he is safe. He thanks God that he is a hunter. He knows how to move without making sound, and he knows how to track prey. He will be able to move across this town without being seen or heard, if he doesn't act like the idiot he was before and just run blindly.

He looks to his right and sees no biters and the path directly is clear too. He has a shot _if_ he is quiet. Slowly, he crawls to the truck part of the truck and trailer and slides down. When his feet hit the floor he crouches. Looking under the truck he watches the biter's feet to see if his landing attracted any of their attention. Luckily it doesn't so he continues on.

He gets to the shop of the gas station when he hears the muffled calls of a man. He tries the steel door, but finds that it is locked. Daryl walks to the window and looks in. He sees the kid the cop was talking about.

"Something you want? Huh? I ain't standing around here playing bait all day."

The kid tells Daryl that he can get him gas but only if he helps him. The kid's name is Warren and is willing to help. He works at the gas station, but he tells Daryl the only way he can give him gas is if the power is turned on. The keys to turn on the power are with his boss who is across town. Daryl rolls his eyes and wonders why he's running around doing errands for everyone. First the batteries and now these keys? _What a bitch he is turning into._

Warren, Daryl learns, calls the biters "eaters." Daryl figures no one really knows whats going on and is probably going to hear these things called all sorts of names. He agrees to take Warren with him, only if he hold up his side of the bargain. Daryl runs across town, fending off some biters here and there until he finds the kid's uncle. Lucky Les, the owner of the gas station. Les wasn't so lucky, he got himself bit, along with the kid's father.

Grabbing the keys off of Lucky Les, Daryl hops a few fences and makes his way back to Warren. Just as he said he would, he gives him gas and Daryl takes him on the road. He knows he forgot to get the cop on the roof, but as soon as Warren turned on the power, the biters came out of nowhere. They were surrounded and the only way they were to make it out alive was to get out of the town. If Daryl had gone back for the cop he wouldn't have made it out with a beating heart.

Jess drives all through the night. Daryl keeps an eye on him. He doesn't look good, he gets out of breath easy and his arm looks infected. Warren tells the two everything he knows about the biters. He tells them that they came around about a month or so ago, and they over took cites almost over night. Anyone standing in their way is either completely devoured or the get away with just a bite.

"So what your sayin' is that if you get bit, you turn into one of those things." Warren nods at Jess. Daryl watches Jess' face to gauge his reaction. They all know its just a matter of time before he turns into one of those things. The thought of shooting his uncle crosses his mind. He wouldn't have to turn and he would be out of the pain he must be in now.

"I think we're heading towards Pemberton, but I don't think it's safe there."

"Yeah, well, I don't think anywhere is safe. Pemberton is the next best place."

A few times they have to stop on the highway to move some cars that are in the way. When they are out they gather any supplies they can, mostly fuel and food. Any ammo and weapons are a plus. Jess looks worse by the time they reach Pemberton. Daryl knows that if he doesn't do something, Jess could turn on Warren and himself. Keeping his pistol in his pocket and a hunting knife on his belt, he gets out of the car. They find an abandoned farm house.

Quickly searching it, they find a shot gun, some ammo, a flare gun, and a ton of food. Gathering everything they can, they stock up the truck. Jess is slow to react to any biters, but fights them off well enough. They don't spend much time at the house when they see the field. From fence to fence the acre of property is covered in biters. As quickly and as quietly as they can, they head toward the truck.

During their drive Jess turns on the radio to see if any broadcasts could tell them more about what is going on. Luckily it does, but they aren't happy with what they hear.

"_Citizens are strongly advised to avoid all contact with anyone who has or may been affected. Do not try to communicate or reason with anyone displaying strange behaviors, such as individuals displaying elevated hostility and aggression. If attacked by infected individuals, immediately clean and disinfect any resulting bite or scratch wounds. Military units have initiated vaccination, rescue, and evacuation operation across the Southwest region. Details will be broadcast on this station as they are developed. This is a recorded message and will play again on three minutes." _ Daryl watches Jess the entire time. He can see it on his uncle's face that he accepted his end. Daryl respects him for that and hopes that if he gets bit, he too will accept the fact that he must end his life.

The welcome sign of Pemberton comes into view. All three men see the same thing. Biters. And lots of them. They cover the streets, but they are in need of fuel, the only thing the farm house didn't have, so they have no choice but to enter the town. The sky is now dark, and it is a lot more dangerous to go out. Warren volunteers to look for more ammo, and weapons. Daryl tells them he will find the fuel, and come back as soon as he finds where to bring the truck. Jess once again stays put.

Daryl goes into the first building he sees with caution. Once inside he realizes that he's in a police station, and if anywhere is going to have information, its going to be here. Keeping low and quiet, he finds a room with the light on and the door barricaded. Upon further inspection, he finds a cop inside. Once again he is sent out to do someone's errands, but this time he is rewarded with a cop car with a full tank, and even extra gas in the trunk.

Warren makes it back without any bites, but Jess looks worse than before. Without _any_ warning, Jess turns. He starts to come for Daryl. Jess snaps his teeth and reaches out his hands. He groans and makes noises the biters make. His movements are slow so Daryl makes the decision to put a knife through his head. He knows that's what his uncle would have wanted, he would have rather died than roam around the earth an undead bastard.

Warren is a little shaken up by the whole scene of both the biters and Jess. Daryl tells him to get into the car, and that he will drive. Not long into the drive Warren falls asleep. Daryl expects that the kid hasn't gotten much sleep being locked up in that station so he lets him sleep the whole drive. Warren finally wakes up when they arrive in Fontana. Daryl knows they are making progress but to what he's not sure. No matter where they go, the biters are everywhere. Daryl has been thinking that this is how it is everywhere; that there is nowhere safe.

When they arrive in Fontana the first thing they hear are gunshots. Gunshots mean guns. Guns mean people who are alive. The cop in the last town wouldn't leave, claiming it is his duty to stay and help the others. Daryl had told him that there were no others in the town, but the stubborn cop wouldn't listen. In the back of Daryl's mind is Merle. He needs to find his brother. His brother could be the key to his survival.

Getting out of the car, the two men notice that there aren't as many biters on the streets. With extra caution they continue in. Keeping one eye behind them, Daryl guides Warren into an alley. Warren shakes with fear when Daryl tells him to find any survivors. If he is out looking for people he might just find Merle. They hear more shots fired, though this time they see bits of the building next to them fly off. The bastard is shooting at them! They aren't dead! Surely the shooter knows that, but then again, if he is on the top of a building there is a good chance they do look like the other biters.

Warren seems to trust in Daryl's plan because he goes off in the direction Daryl sends him. The boy is armed with a gun, hammer and knife, he should be fine. Daryl makes his way through town. He kills a few biters, and has one extremely close call. The gun shots never stop, and from several people he hears that the asshole on the roof is just shooting everyone. He meets a girl named Scout and saves her friend from a small herd which he is rewarded with first aid supplies. They tell him how to get up onto the roof that shooter is on. Trusting that they are telling him the truth he makes his way up.

He hears a muffled laugh, along with more gun shots when he reaches to door that will take him out onto the top of the city. He knows exactly who that muffled laugh belongs to. He would know that laugh anywhere._ Merle_. Of course Merle is the asshole who is shooting up the town. Why would Daryl expect anyone else? With forethought, Daryl listens to his brother's yells through the steel door.

"Oh, no! Sneaking up are we? No, no, no! You're never gong to take me back there!" Daryl tries to push on the door handle but he hears the gun cock and jumps back. Three bullets soar through the door. Getting pissed off he yells to his brother.

"Aw, come on, Merle! It's me! Merle!"

"What's lower than impersonating a man's long-lost baby brother? You're just trying to gain false entry! That's what you're doing!" Merle can be a dumbass at the best of times. Daryl knows his brother well enough to know he has to be an asshole back to get what he wants. By the sound of Merle's voice, he must have been up here for a while. He sounds a little on the crazy side. He's either been in the sun to long or he's cracked out on drugs. Either is a possibility.

"Dammit Merle. I'm just gonna leave you here."

"Keep your pants on sweetheart. I locked this place down pretty good." The door opens, and before he even sees Merle, he's dragged out onto the roof. He stumbles and hears the door slam behind him. Turning around he sees his big brother. He is red with sun burn, his voice loud with anger. Whatever anger he has had brewing up here is about to explode now on Daryl.

"Them people locked me up for days in the dark with all them abominations!" His arms swing wildly, gesturing to the streets. He paces the length of the roof, screaming at the top of his lungs. Merle never knew how to hold his anger, not like Daryl. Out of the two brothers, Daryl is the quiet more reserved one, while Merle is the violent, angry, jackass one. Merle likes to tell people how he feels regardless of the consequences. He likes to be the boss, the one everyone listens to. Daryl is the opposite, he would rather keep to himself, and follow a person who knows what they are talking about. But they're brothers, not Siamese twins.

"But look'ee whose just a little bit too smart for them." He gestures to himself. He sways when he walks, and he can't keep his balance. Daryl knows there is a good chance he's drunk, but from the heat and the alcohol, his brother has gone insane.

"Bro, your stir fried from the sun, and the booze and whatever else you been into."

"Ah, I do feel a little warm now that you mention it. I sprang myself see? Established my little snipers nest, right here. And then I commenced sending those soldiers packing. I rang the alarms calling in the abominations." He looks proud of himself. He seems to be unfazed at what he's done. Daryl sees that Merle wants all the people dead down there. He is one to get revenge rather quickly on people. Shaking his head, Daryl yells some sense into his big brother.

"Those aren't soldiers down there! Just some scavengers trying to help people out. They don't even know who you are!" As Daryl yells, Merle tries to get words in gesturing towards the streets.

"They're in uniform, ain't they? And they came to take me back to the hole!" With that Merle falls to his knees. Once again Daryl has to deal with his brother while he's drunk. Lifting Merle to his feet, Daryl smells the alcohol. He's probably drinking beer instead of water this whole time. This wouldn't surprise Daryl in the least.

"Let's go, ya ape. Guess I gotta lug your thick ass back across town. Man, you must be runnin' over a hundred and six." Merle starts to walk with Daryl, but quickly turns around. He screams "my chair!" but Daryl manages to get him to the truck in one piece.

Warren doesn't come back. The biters must have caught him. All Daryl cares about right now is that he has his brother. Merle is with him, so now they can figure out what they are going to do to survive.

They go from town to town but its all the same. Biters everywhere, barely any survivors. They make it to Firesign Stadium. Here, the military is evacuating as many people as they can. Everything goes to hell, though, when the walkers show up. Hundreds of them, Merle and Daryl just, by the skin of their teeth, make it out.

The helicopter that is evacuating everyone has a pilot that has been bit. Daryl doesn't notice, but Merle does. Merle holds his baby brother back, and sends the chopper away. Daryl screams at his brother, but Merle calmly explains to his younger kin that the pilot looks like he is already turning. Daryl watches the helicopter fly off letting Merle's words sink in. They don't stick around for long after that. They head for Atlanta, a broadcast informs them of a refugee center there. Thinking it is the best plan, they drive toward the big city.

When they arrive they immediately know there is no refugee camp anymore. The whole city is over run by walkers. The truck they are driving runs out of gas, which causes both brothers to have to go into the overrun city and look for fuel. Both are careful enough, Daryl more so than Merle, but they make it to a blocked off alley way with little trouble. With crossbow locked and loaded, Daryl takes aim to hit the one walker who managed to get passed the bus. Finger on the trigger, the walker turns. His eyes go wide and his hands shoot up.

"No! I'm alive! I'm not dead! Don't shoot!" The Asian boy standing in front of the two tired men is the best thing that happens to them since the whole apocalypse started. The boy invites them back to camp with their promise to help everyone to survive. The brothers shake on it, and back to camp they go, little did the Asian know, the two men he just brought back to his friends plan to rob them of everything they have.

* * *

**Here is a little sample from next chapter! Enjoy!**

_**The coast is clear, so she runs. She runs in the direction the walker's aren't facing. She sees the exit, it is just about fifty feet ahead of her. She hears her name. She turns toward the yell and sees Michael running toward her. A smile and sob of relief escapes her. She takes three steps toward him but stops. She isn't quick enough to warn him or get to him. The walkers come up behind him. She points but no sounds come out. As she watches his face, she sees the acceptance and hears him yell, "get out of here! Stay alive, Mae!"**_


	3. Mae: One Daryl: Zero

Disclaimer: I do not own any of The Walking Dead characters. I do not own any dialogue used in the TV show The Walking Dead. I own Mae, Michael, Brandon and Greg.

I'm sorry it has taken so long to upload this chapter. My computer crashed and I had to rewrite it, and I have been busy with work. My life has been hectic to say the least. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

"Mae! You missed the turn! No, stay to the damn left!You're going to get us killed."  
"Look! I don't live here! Where I come from we drive on the opposite side of the road! This is confusing for me!" The past almost two months have been tough, but occasionally there are moments where it doesn't seem like there are people trying to eat other people. Right now is one of those moments. The men are trying to teach Mae how to drive the way they do, on the right side of the road but it's not working out to well.

Mae and her group, which consists of Michael, Brandon, and Greg, hear a broadcast saying there is a refugee center in Atlanta. Three days ago Michael makes the decision to check out the refugee. Nobody argues since going to Atlanta is as good as any plan. Greg volunteers Mae to be the driver, once again no arguments. Well, that is before they all get in the car. Right now, all three men want to throw Mae into the trunk if that's what it takes to get her from behind the wheel.

"Alright, the entrance to Atlanta is just ahead. Get us there without killing us." Michael tries to diffuse the tension between Greg and Mae. There haven't been many problems in the group, everyone gets along rather well. Every here and there there is a scuffle but other than that, the group has fared well; all things considered.

Mae drives safely into the large city. Everything that happens next happens in what feels like two minutes. She lets the car come to a stop and that's when they come. Walkers from every corner. The car doesn't have enough gas to put a considerable about a distance between the walkers and safety. Mae tells the men to make a run for it. Everyone should meet up on they highway at the other entrance to the city. Before the walkers get too close to the car, the four occupants run. Each taking a different direction. Before bolting from the car, Mae grabs her backpack. It holds any keys to survival; weapons, food, clothing, and ammo.

She dashes toward the department store to her left, hoping the doors are not barricaded. She hears Greg scream but it is cut off. She turns around just for a second to see Greg fighting off a few walkers but he is bleeding. She see the bites, she knows he will turn. There is no time to save him. She turns and runs straight through the doors but does not stop to close them. She has no time. She goes directly to the stairs. They should slow her pressures down, just enough for her to get some distance between her and them. She takes the steps two then three at a time. When she bursts through the upstairs door, she stops. What is she thinking! Where is she going to go now!? She looks around quickly. Her only chance to get away is the fire escape.

Without hesitation she runs to the edge of the building. Grabbing the rusted metal handles the begins her descend. She slips on one of the rungs and falls a part of the way to the first landing. She hits the metal on her back, but gets a full view of the walkers falling from the building. They just walk right off. They don't slow down or anything. It feels like she broke a rib so she feels around. No, no ribs broken, bruised for sure but not broke. She stays quiet, to make sure they don't hear her. Two months of killing these things, she picked up a few tricks. One being, they get distracted very easy when they don't see living food.

She hears a scream. A man's scream. It almost sounds like Brandon. They got him too. His screams turn into sobs. He must be close. Mae covers he mouth with her hand to keep from crying out loud. Maybe Michael will make it out with looks up to see if any of the walkers heard it as well, and turns out they did. They can't see or hear Mae, and they are to far to smell her, so they move on to their next victim. Having an opening, she continues her climb down the ladder. The alley below her has two walkers, but she takes them out easily with one of her hunting knives. The streets at both ends of the alley are covered in the flesh eaters. There seems to be no escape, until she hears the sound of a car alarm.

She jumps back on to the fire escape as soon as she sees the red mustang whip by the left alley entrance. She figures the walkers will follow the sound and she doesn't want to be trapped in the middle of the two sides. She waits to see if the walkers will pass through the alley but they don't. She sees an opening at the left entrance and takes it. Keeping close to the walls, she makes it to the end of the alley. Mae looks both left, right and behind her to make sure no one is following her. It is a good thing she does because three walkers come up behind her. She grabs the knife attached to her right hip. Running towards one she drives her weapon through the walker's skull. He falls with a thump, but she pays no mind to him, two women approach her. She repeats her tactic on them once again and they go down, just like the man.

The coast is clear, so she runs. She runs in the direction the walker's aren't facing. She sees the exit, it is just about fifty feet ahead of her. She hears her name. She turns toward the yell and sees Michael running toward her. A smile and sob of relief escapes her. She takes three steps toward him but stops. She isn't quick enough to warn him or get to him. The walkers come up behind him. She points but no sounds come out. As she watches his face, she sees the acceptance and hears him yell, "get out of here! Stay alive, Mae!"

She doesn't have much time to think when she hears the red car's alarm as it comes up behind her. She tums around as the car passes her. In an attempt to stop the car, she raises her hand and yells "stop!". She doesn't expect the car to stop, but when it does she runs over to the drivers side. The window is completely smashed out. The driver is a young Asian boy. He looks to be about Mae's age. He looks in his rear view mirror, then to her.

"Get in, the walkers are coming." Not needing to be told twice she runs to the passenger side and hops in. Before she closes the door she looks toward Michael. She can not see him, she just sees a group of the eaters. She knows he's down there, she knows he is in pain. The kid puts the car in drive without her shutting the door.

He doesn't just drive the car, he swerves, speeds and takes down a few walkers on the road. He laughs and yells but Mae just looks back. Her guys. Her group. They are all gone. Michael told her to stay alive. He died and gave her time to escape. Tears fall down her face but she wipes them away as quickly as they fall.

"So, what's your name?" The Asian boy finally speaks to her. He has to yell over the car alarm to be heard. He is facing her, not paying attention to the road. There aren't any other cars so why pay attention right? She hugs her back pack in her lap. Should she trust him? Should she have gotten in the car with this kid? Sure, why not? He saved her life; he got her out of the city. She owes him her name at least.

"Mae. Mae Ryder. Thank you for stopping, I didn't expect you to but I figured I would give it a shot." Her finger wrap around her locket seeking it's comfort. He laughs, his shoulders shake and his eyes close. She can't help but smile. His laugh is contagious. They pass a truck which the kid honks at and it honks back. He screams out the window again.

"Not everyday you get to drive a beautiful car at top speed."

"Not everyday, no. But some days." His head turns to her and he laughs once more. She smiles back, and looks through the windshield. Just because he doesn't want to pay attention doesn't mean she shouldn't.

"My name is Glenn Rhee. Nice to meet you Mae." With his eyes back on the road, he drives into the mountains. The car alarm echoes from rock wall to wall. His speed never slows, he takes turns at 90 mph, and the straight roads at 110. The wind coming in from the windows whips Mae's hair everywhere. She gave up trying to keep it down. Glenn tells her there is camp not to far in the mountains, that there are other survivors, and that the van he honked at before is part of the surviving group. He doesn't tell her much about the people at camp, just to get to know them. She likes Glenn, he's sweet. He earns her trust as he tells her his experience thus far. He seems to trust her so why not?

It doesn't take long for them to reach the camp Glenn told her about, just fifteen minutes. The car alarm never stops, Mae learns that he hijacked the it in order to get the walkers away from the other survivors stuck in the city. She is worried that it will bring the walkers to the supposed safe camp, but they are going fast so maybe it will be okay.

The car comes to a rolling stop when it reaches the camp. Mae sees an RV with a red and white stripped umbrella and a man on top of it. She also sees a few tents spread about the area, not far, but not close. Just close enough to be in range of the man's view on top of the RV and far enough for some privacy. Glenn turns to her with his hand ready to open his door.

"Ready to meet the others?" Mae smiles and nods. She would love to meet other living breathing people. Glenn steps out of the car and slams the door. She stays in the car a little bit longer. She's nervous. She can't expect these people to just welcome her in. The last time she met new people they pointed guns to her head and tied her to a bed for the night. She watches as a number of people approach Glenn. A blonde girl wearing a light pink shirt and white pants, which Mae can not figure out how she is keeping white, keeps speaking to Glenn. He looks like he's getting irritated. He nods, puts his hands up, and walks back to the car. The alarm is loud, and Mae can tell the people do not like the fact that Glenn has brought it up here.

She can hear one of the men yell "pop the hood!," which causes Glenn to open the door and reach in. Once the hood is popped, the car alarm stops. Glenn motions toward Mae to get out of the car. She slowly does so. Everyone is so focused on Glenn, nobody notices her.

"You crazy driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every walker for miles?" A man leaning over the car turns on Glenn. Mae didn't think it was that stupid considering he did get the rest of the people out of the city. That has to count doesn't it? Apparently not, since the man never stops glaring at Glenn. An elderly man, looks to be in his early sixties, speaks next.

"I think were okay."

"You call being stupid okay?" Mae doesn't want to say anything since she isn't part of the group, but she doesn't think Glenn is stupid. He got her out, he saved those people. He had to have done something right. The man moves from under the hood to the driver's side. The elderly man speaks once again in Glenn's defense.

"Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pin point the source." The man leaning on the car scoffs and pulls a face. He seems to not want to listen to his elder. He seems to like to be in charge rather than listen to anyone else. He could possibly be the leader of this group.

"I'm not arguing," the older man starts, "I'm just saying. It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?" The happiness on Glenn's face from the drive here has vanished. He looks disappointed in himself. He points to the car and in a small voice he apologizes.

"Got a cool car." He tries to lighten the mood, with a joke, but Mae doesn't think he means to be funny. Mae thinks he genuinely likes the car. He probably has never driven a car as nice as this, but it's possible he has. As he points to the car everyone's attention goes to Mae. Her back goes straight and her eyes wide. Oh no, they might not let her stay. They don't look like they will keep her. Oh no, what is she doing to do? Glenn notices them looking at her and the smile returns to his face. He half walks half hops to her.

"This is Mae. She was in the city and in trouble." His face goes from the group to her, back to the group again. A sigh of relief escapes her lips when the elderly man walks up to her smiling.

"Hello Mae, I'm Dale. Welcome to the group. You will be staying right?" Her mouth opens to speak but the words said are not her's. They belong to Glenn. His arm goes around her shoulders, and he sort of hugs her.

"Of course shes staying! She's got no where else to go." His smile is bright and contagious, just like in the car. Mae smiles as well, but it fades as she watches the man who seems like the leader walk up to them. His face doesn't look too happy, and his words even less.

"She can't stay, there's already too many people. Besides, what if she's bit?" His arms fold across is chest. This man is massive. He must have been a cop or part of the armed forces. He wears his clothes the way someone in either would. His legs are slightly spread, and his head is held high. Dale comes to Mae's rescue, thankfully.

"If she was bit, Glenn wouldn't have brought her back. Besides, we could always use the help around here. Will you help if you stay?" Mae nods her head instantly. That's not even a question. She will do whatever she can for this group, they are saving her life. Dale smiles at her then at the other man.

"Let's introduce the group to you. You know me and Glenn, this here is Shane, back there is Lori, Carl, Jacqui, Sophia, Carol, Ed, this is Amy, and that's Jim." He points to each person. As he names them off Mae nods her head in understanding. Shane isn't too pleased that Mae will be staying, but Dale said it is okay and Glenn wants her to stay so she will. Mae smiles at everyone and adjusts her back pack on her shoulder. The thing feels like it weighs a hundred pounds. Nobody besides Shane seems to but upset with the new addition. Each welcomes her with either a nod, a smile, or a hello.

"If her group comes here and attacks us, it will be on you because you know for a fact a girl this small couldn't have survived this long by herself. How much you weigh? Eighty pounds? And your what? Five foot?" Mae doesn't take the bait. He wants her to get mad, he's purposely doing this. Mae understands why as well. This is his group, he is trying to survive just as she is. He is trying to keep his people safe against what is out there and walkers aren't the only things. People are to be feared too. She understands and he needs to understand that.

"My group entered the city with me, but I heard two scream and watched one go down. I know they all didn't make it. The only reason I did is because of Glenn. If he hadn't drove by, I would have been food for those things. Even if they did make it, they are no threat to you or your people. You can hold me to that."

"How many in your group?"

"Just me and three men." Shane doesn't get to respond because the sound of a truck rolling up catches everyone's attention. A blond woman is the first to appear. She yells out the name Amy in which the girl standing near Mae responds with Andrea. Mae can hear the Amy crying as she runs to Andrea. They both hold on to each other as if they will never see each other again. Glenn whispers to her that they are sisters and that Andrea is the older one of the two.

He also tells her the man is Morales and that is his family he is walking up to. She watches as a little boy and girl run up to a man screaming "daddy" and "papi." A woman follows in the footsteps of the children. She has tears running down her face. The man picks up the small girl, and kisses his wife. Dale walks over to him and hugs the man. Mae notices that this group is very close. They all care about each other. She hears Dale speak.

"I thought we had lost you folks for sure." He has a smile on his face and a chuckle in his voice. Mae turns to Glenn but doesn't say anything, he's smiling just as much as the two men in the embrace. This group amazes her. They really care for one another; not that Mae didn't care for her group, but if one of them died, how much would she have grieved? Surely not as much are one of these people would if any of them died.

"How'd y'all get out of there anyway?" Shane stands with his hands on his hips, and a small curve to his lips. He doesn't fully smile, but Mae can tell he is relived. Glenn answers his question with "New guy, he got us out." Shane's brow furrows but Morales quickly chimes in.

"Yeah, crazy vato just got into town." He yells behind him "Hey, Helicopter boy! Come say hello." With that the truck door opens and is slammed shut. A man dressed in a police officer uniform walks forward. His hands on his hips, and his head down. She hears Morales say to Shane that he's a cop just like him, but that's all faint. She watches as the cop mouths "oh my god" and walks faster forward. She turns and see a little boy, she remembers whose name is Carl, running toward the man screaming "dad!" tears streaming down is face, hes legs going as fast as they can. Lori, she thinks the woman's name is, walks to the man and her son. They stand there wrapped in each others arms, sobbing. Mae's hand goes to her mouth. He must not have known they were alive. She grabs Glenn's arm and he looks down. A small, quiet laugh leaves his lips. She doesn't realize she has grabbed his arm, but when she does she doesn't let go. It has been some time when she has actually felt safe. Something about the atmosphere around the camp breathes safety, family, and home.

As the day goes on the sky darkens and the group settles around the small fire built by Shane. As the sky turns black the temperature drops to what feels like below freezing. Glenn wraps Mae in a thin blanket and takes a seat close to her. The fire doesn't reach high, which she finds out is because they don't want to attract any unwanted guests. In the distance thunder can be heard. Dale says the storm is close but it will not start raining for another hour or so. Right now, Rick, the cop who just arrived shortly after Mae, is telling everyone what is was like to wake up from a coma into this new world.

"Disoriented. I guess that comes closest. Disoriented." Everyone listens to him speak, no one interrupts. The sound of crickets, thunder, and the crackles from the fire are the sounds that fill Rick's gaps of silences.

"Fear, confusion. All those things but... disoriented comes closest." The set up around the fire is close knit. Most of the group is huddled up with some one or at least closer than they would be under normal circumstances. In Rick's lap sits Lori and Carl, Amy is curled up next to Andrea, Glenn is quiet close to Mae, and Morales and his family are huddled together as well. Not too far from the main group is a smaller group. This, Mae learns, is the Peletier family. The small group consists of Ed, Carol, and Sophia. Mae hasn't asked why they are separated from the main group and she doesn't think she will. The man, Ed, does not seem like a man to be welcoming to new comers.

"Words can be meager things. Sometimes they fall short." Dale smiles and saves Rick from his lack of words. Mae knows Dale reads. He seems to be that type of guy. His way of speaking screams "I read novels." Mae appreciates that and tells herself to ask him to borrow a book sometime. She likes fiction, she likes books that take her mind away from whatever situation she is in at the time. She likes being so into a book it is hard to drag her out. She hopes Dale has something good, though she will take anything she can get. Rick finds his words again.

"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever." Lori lays with her husband and son, brushing back Carl's hair. He listens to his father speak and holds on to each word. Mae notices a small sparkle in his eyes and it's not from the fire. This kid loves his father, Mae could only imagine what it must have felt like to think he was dead. Lori's head rests on Rick's shoulder, her hair covers some of her face, but Mae can see the relief shining off her face. Carl's small voice reaches Mae's ears across the fire.

"Mom said you were dead." Lori lifts her head from her husband's shoulder in shock. Rick just looks down at his son with a look of sadness. An understanding lines the sadness and all Mae wants to do is cry. This family has been through hell, granted everyone has, but Rick just looks down at his son and tells him it is alright. Mae misses being small, and curled in her mother's arms. She misses being afraid of the dark, the thunder, and the creaky house they lived in. Most of all, she misses being told everything is okay, and getting a warm kiss on the forehead by someone she loved most in the world. Her mother. She sniffles and feels a small nudge from next to her. Turning she see's Glenn smiling at her. She smiles back and listens to the family across from her.

"She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt that."

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital they were going to medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta and it never happened."

"Well I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell. And from the look of that hospital, it got over run." Rick looks to his wife with love and forgiveness. She neither smiles or frowns, she just stares at him. Shane speaks for the first time since they all gathered around the fire.

"Yeah looks don't deceive. I barely got them out, you know?"

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it." A chuckle comes from Dale. When Mae looks at him, she sees an old grey man with a large smile on his face. His words are laced with laughter.

"There go those words falling short again. Paltry things." The sound of wood clattering and a grunt comes from behind the group. Everyone looks and sees Ed walking back to his seat. Mae watches as he covers his legs with a blanket and cross his arms. Glenn blocks some of her view so she sees him shake his head a look back to the ground in front of him. She's about to ask what's wrong but her unspoken question is answered by Shane.

"Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?" His voice is slightly raised and has a small edge to it. Everyone in the group either shakes their head, mutters or just looks away. No one seems to want to deal with him but Shane. Ed answers Shane's question with an "it's cold, man," but this isn't the answer Shane is looking for.

"Cold don't change the rules does it? Keep our fires low, just embers, so we can't be seen from a distance." Is what Shane is looking for, but Ed once again doesn't get the hint. Shane notices as well. Mae doesn't know how Shane is, nor how he will act. What she does know is that if he starts a fight she will no be surprised. Shane seems to be the type of guy to fight without cause. Ed replies to Shane's expected reply.

"I said it's cold. You should mind your own business for once." With that Shane rises from is his seat in anger. He tries to hide the anger but it fumes on his face. As he walks over to the second group, Dale turns to Mae. She suspects he is just trying to keep everyone in a good mood and keep the attention off of Shane.

"So Mae, I think we all noticed your pretty accent, where are you from?" Mae looks around the group from person to person. Each watch her, waiting for an answer. She gets another nudge from the boy sitting next to her. She doesn't like the attention, but they need to get to know her. They need to know she is not a threat. She answers, her voice small and her eyes to the fire.

"Liverpool, England. I was here for a funeral before all this happened." Dale nods and everyone else accepts the answer. Carl speaks before anyone can stop him.

"Who died?"

"Carl! You can't- I'm sorry Mae. Say your sorry."  
"No no, it's okay." She laughs. "Honestly, the funeral was for my step mother, I never liked her much, horrible to say I know, but it's the truth. The night of the burial, I went for a run and saw a man bit. When I went back to my father's house for the night, the next morning those things were walking around. It's like it happened over night." No one disagrees. The only sounds are the thunder and crickets in the far background. In no time Shane is back. He sits right where he was two minutes ago. He casts a look around the group, but his glare stays on Mae. He drags his hand down his face.

"Where you say your group was again?"

"They became one with the walkers. Like I said before, I heard two go down and watched one get eaten. The only reason I made it out of the city is because of Glenn. Had it not been for him, I wouldn't be alive. My group poses no threats to yours, unless they attack as walkers. I also do no pose a threat to you all. If you really think I do I will leave."

"No, you are not leaving. You said it yourself you will not survive." Glenn is quick to shoot down her proposal to leave. He turns to Shane.

"Leave her alone. She won't bring harm to us." Glenn saves her once more. She will have to repay him in some way. She makes a promise to herself to no matter what save Glenn at some point. Dale swoops in and changes the subject from Mae to a man named Daryl.

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind." He looks around to the others. Everyone sits quietly, not offering any sort of solution. Mae looks up to Glenn. He starts to whisper to her about Daryl and Merle Dixon. He tells her that they are, for lack of a better word, redneck brothers. They are both hot heads, they do most of the hunting and that he, just like Mae, saved them as well. He mentions that Merle was being Merle and got himself handcuffed to the roof, but was left up there. A man named T-Dog speaks for what seems like the first time.

"I'll tell him. I dropped the key. It's on me."

"I cuffed him. That makes him mine." Rick's claim makes sense. But so does T-Dog's. Daryl can't blame them, can he? Mae finds out her answer when she voices her question.

"Guys, it's not a competition. And Mae, yes, he will. You haven't met Daryl yet. He won't take this lightly, he may even get violent guys. I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy." So Daryl is racist as well. This man must be a joy in person. So Shane is worried about Mae but not about Daryl? He seems to be much more of a threat than Mae could ever be.

"I did what I did. Hell if I'm going to hide from him." T-Dog is set on telling Daryl it is his fault his brother is stuck cuffed to a roof. She respects him for it. A man who will own up to his wrong doings is a man worth something. Amy suggests they lie to Daryl, but her sister tells her no. Andrea says they should tell him the truth, no matter how they think he will react. Dale doesn't seem to agree with what everyone is saying. He knows that Daryl will be irrational about this no matter who it comes from.

"I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it." T-Dog looks around at everyone almost daring them to tell him he should be. Andrea is the only one to speak up.

"We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?"

"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is to narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that. Not that chain and not that lock. My point?" He pauses and takes a breath. Everyone watches him, waiting for his answer.

"Dixon's still alive and he's still handcuffed on that roof. And that? That's on us." With that he gets up and walks away. He doesn't even wait for anyone to respond nor does he turn around to see anyone's reaction. What he doesn't see is everyone turn to one another. He doesn't see the group's shocked faces, and he doesn't hear their murmurs.

When the group is ready to head in to their own tents, Glenn, Dale, Mae and Shane all pause. Where is she going to sleep? Shane stands there, his arms across his chest. He watches Mae to see what she does. Glenn offers her to stay in his tent and he will take watch for the night. Mae declines because Glenn needs sleep after what he went through today. Dale is about to say something when Shane interrupts him.

"Daryl's tent. Sleep there. We'll find a place for you to permanently stay tomorrow. Daryl isn't coming back tonight so you should be fine." Both Glenn and Dale object but Shane looks to Mae. "This way, if you are bitten and you turn, no on will be in danger." She nods, not wanting to piss him off more than she already has. She asks to be pointed to the tent he wants her to stay in. She walks away but before she does she says goodnight to Dale and Glenn.

Arriving at the tent she sees a shadow. When she turns around Glenn stands before her. His face is pained and he tells her they can share his tent. She takes one side he takes the other. She smiles and shakes her head.

"I'm okay. If this man comes back before tomorrow morning, I will explain it is a one night thing, and that it will never happen again. Don't worry about me. Besides, Shane is worried about everyone, which is understandable. I will sleep here so you are in no danger."

"Listen, you don't know Daryl, Mae. I don't think he will take you sleeping in his tent lightly. He gets violent very fast." Mae smiles at him. She is terrified to sleep in this man's tent, especially since she doesn't know when he will come back, but she needs Shane to see that she is an alright person. She will sleep in Daryl's tent and if he finds out he will have to deal with it. She puts her hand on Glenn's cheek and thanks him for saving her earlier today. She tells him that she owes him, big time.

Glenn walks away but isn't happy about it. Mae knows he is just looking out for her, but she will be fine. What will Daryl do? Kill her for sleeping in his tent? Ha! She unzips the entrance and steps in. The first thing she gets hit with is the smell of the woods. She smells the wet earth, the water from the creek, and just the trees themselves. She can tell this man spends most of his time in the thick brush. She can smell blood and sweat but the lovely scent of the trees is what she picks up first.

The tent is a mess as well. The sleeping bag is crumpled up in the corner, and there are clothes spewed everywhere. Bones of what look like small animals litter the ground. Knives, and a gun lay by each other near the entrance, she suspects this is because if there is any trouble he can just grab them and go. She sets her backpack next to the entrance as well. It's not a bad idea to keep it there in case of trouble.

As she shakes out the sleeping bag, she thinks of everything that has happened today. She drove to Atlanta to seek refugee and got it but her group did not. She met this close knit band of survivors, and is sleeping in a strangers bed. She grabs a vest that is laying close to her and uses it as a pillow. It is made of leather and is cold from the cooling air outside. Sleep doesn't take long to find her. With her fist wrapped around her locket, she is out with in minutes; the smell of the trees lulls her into a deep sleep.

When she awakes the next morning, the sun is quite high in the sky. No dreams last night, none that she can remember. She stretches and slips out of the sleeping bag she slept in. Mae makes the makeshift bed the best she can, leaving the vest at the top as the pillow. She steps out of the tent as she grabs her bag and is greeted by the woman Carol. A small gasp escapes Carol's lips. Her eyes are wide in shock. The first words she speaks to Mae come now.

"Did you sleep in Daryl's tent? Oh no, sweetie, he can't know." Mae just smiles and introduces herself to the woman. She reassures her that nothing will happen and if Daryl gets mad, she will handle it. She walks around Carol and finds the rest of the women doing the laundry. With out hesitation she jumps in and starts to help. Carol irons the dry clothes, Andrea, Amy and Lori hang the wet. Mae picks up the first piece of clothing Carol finishes ironing and begins folding it. There is a calming air around the women. They just seem to accept Mae.

After what feels like an hour of folding laundry and talking with these wonderful women, the sound of a truck gliding over the rocks fills the air.

"Water's here y'all! Just a reminder to boil before use." Shane hops out of the Jeep and nods to Rick. He walks through camp like he owns the place. Mae doesn't want to make him the bad guy but he doesn't like her, and she can't make him. Does she need to like him? No, absolutely not.

The sound of the a child's scream suddenly erupts over the camp. Everyone drops what they are doing and run toward where the screams come from. Glenn throws a metal pole to Rick, and they dash through the woods. Mae keeps up with them easily but doesn't expect them to stop so suddenly, so when they do she smashes into Rick. He catches her easily by the wrist and helps her stand straight. Apologizing she steps back a step, but then takes another. On the ground in front of them is a deer. What makes her step back a second time is the creature eating the deer. A walker has his back to them, he is oblivious, and just eats and growls. Andrea and Amy gasp, which catches the walker's attention. Slowly he turns and stands. He has no time to advance to anyone because the second he is on his feet the men start to beat him.

Mae watches as various blunt objects hit the dead man. She hears the men grunt, and the weapons crack bones in the man's body. She doesn't know how much more she can take of the sounds. She turns her attention to the deer. Before the apocalypse, Mae had been a vegetarian for about seven years. Not having a choice, she has been eating meat the past two months. She is still not used to seeing the whole animal dead in front of her eyes. Her group before this one tried to keep the killing of animals and the skinning away from her eyes. Her eyes skip over the huge hole in the deer's neck and focus on the three arrows in it's body. This deer had been killed by a hunter, not this walker.

A thud reaches her ears and she whips around. She sees the walker, but he is now headless. Dale stands with the ax in his hands looking surprised. They all pant hard, trying to catch their breaths. Mae stands near the dead deer, and watches the men straighten their backs and step away from their kill. Dale is the first to speak.

"It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain." Jim is the one to reply.

"Well, they're runnin' out of food in the city, that's what." A branch snaps behind the small group. The sound of feet crushing leaves is heard. The men hold their weapons at the ready. They wait for the intruder to come into view. As the bushes move, out steps a man.

He looks tired, sweat coats his forehead, hair and tank top. He has a rope of squirrels hanging by the neck strung on his shoulder. What looks like a crossbow is in his hand and Mae knows where the arrows that impaled this deer came from now. She watches as the men behind her relax slightly. Confused she looks at the new comer again, but this time he is looking at her. He has no smile, no confusion, just a scowl. His eyes go down her body, but do not come back up. He turns his attention to the deer.

"Son of a bitch. That's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on." He steps completely out of the bushes and walks toward the headless walker. His foot swings back then forward. He repeats this motion as he speaks.

"By this filthy-_kick_-disease bearing-_kick_-motherless proxy bastard." Mae watches as he breathes heavy and looks down at the walker. His eyes flick up and she holds them. Blue meets grey. His eyes don't move and hers can't. Who is this guy?

"Calm down, son. That's not helping." Dale shifts from one foot to the other watching Mae and Daryl. At Dale's voice, Daryl snaps out of his little staring contest with Mae and turns on the grey-haired man.

"What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "On Golden Pond?" Daryl walks back to the deer, accidentally bumping Mae's shoulder. He doesn't apologize or even look back. Glenn puts his hand on her arm and gently pulls her back until his body is slightly in front of hers. That's when she realizes this must be Daryl. She watches as he walks to the deer and begins to yank out the arrows. He points to the gash in the deer's neck.

"I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" His question is for anyone. The one who answers is Shane.

"I would not risk that." Daryl sighs. His eyes catch Mae's again. She is momentarily stunned. She is safe behind Glenn but this man is fairly large. He could do some damage and he doesn't look to be in a good mood. His stare moves back to the deer after he realizes he is staring. He sighs.

"That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel. 'bout a dozen or so. That'll have to do." His eyes move from person to person. Just as he steps to walk back to camp, the walker's head opens his eyes and starts to make noise. Amy and Andrea leave as quickly as possible. Everyone else just stands there staring at the head. Daryl lifts his crossbow and aims to shoot it.

"Come on people. What the hell?" His finger pulls the trigger and the arrow sails through the walker's head. The second the arrow comes partly out the other side of the head, it stops moving. Daryl steps on the head with one foot and pulls the arrow free.

"It's gotta be the brain." He looks around to everyone. "Don't y'all know nothin'?" With that he walks away. His back stays to the group as they follow him. Glenn looks down to Mae. She tries to smile but can not muster up one. She slept in this man's tent without him knowing. Saying she would deal with him if he gets mad was a whole lot easier before. Right now she wishes she was never picked up by Glenn. He must notice she is bothered because he tries to console her.

"Don't worry, he'll probably go easy on you. Your small and pretty, no one could get mad at you." His reassuring smile isn't at all reassuring. Mae has never depended on her looks to get her out of things. She never needed to depend on anything because is was very rare she ever got in trouble.

The walk back to camp is terribly short. Mae was hoping the walk would be longer so Daryl could figure out someone slept in his tent and get over it. No such luck. She hears his voice up ahead.

"Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrels!" She watches as he sets down his crossbow near his temporary home. He walks toward the RV with his rope of dead squirrels over his shoulder. She sees Shane walk faster to get ahead of the group.

"Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you." Daryl stops and turns as soon as Shane finishes his request. His stance looks like he is in defense mode. He asks about what and Shane tells him that there was a problem in Atlanta with Merle. Mae watches as Daryl's face falls, but just for a second. He regains his scowl almost instantly. Everyone in camp stops what they are doing to watch the confrontation. Glenn makes sure Mae stays near him.

"He dead?"

"We're not sure." At this Daryl advances to Shane. He stops a mere foot away from his possible opponent. Shane's back straightens. Daryl keeps eye contact with Shane. He refuses to look away.

"He either is or he ain't!" Rick steps in. Mae can tell he is the type of guy who will avoid a fight for as long as he can. His voice is strong but not hard.

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Mae knows Daryl doesn't like this. He looks like a cornered animal. She wants to tell the two men to back off or he will attack but it is not her place. Daryl asks Rick who he is and Rick answers plainly.

"Rick Grimes?" Daryl repeats mockingly. "You got somethin' to tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there." Mae sees movement in the corner of her eye. She notices T-Dog walk up to the group carrying what looks like fire wood. This is about to get bad. Daryl doesn't look thrilled about the news of his brother. He looks away from the two men in front of him.

"Hold on, let me process this." He wipes his eyes. Is he crying? Mae knows now that there is a heart in this man and she will not forget that. Maybe he won't care about his tent she slept in without his permission. Maybe he will understand. He motions to his head, more so his brain and continues to speak. "You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?" His voice raises considerably. Glenn's hand goes to Mae's body slightly pushing her behind him. Rick replies with a "yeah" and that sets Daryl off.

He grunts and throws the rope of his kills at Rick as a momentary distraction. It works on Rick but Shane is quick to slam Daryl into a car with his shoulder. Faster than Mae's eyes can follow, Daryl pulls out one of his hunting knives. Someone yells "watch the knife." Shane keeps a hand out in front of his body in an effort to protect himself. Daryl rights him self and goes for Rick. Mae puts her hand of her mouth in shock. This man is about attempt to kill the other two.

He shouts and grunts as Rick dodges his advances. Rick grabs the hand that holds the knife as Shane grabs the other arm. They get him to throw the knife aside and it skids to Mae's feet. She looks at the weapon and picks it up. As she comes back up she sees Shane has Daryl in a choke hold.

"You'd best let me go." Daryl growls his sentence. Shane replies with "nah, I think it's better if I don't." Slowly, Daryl falls to the ground with Shane on top of him.

"Choke hold's illegal." At that Mae smiles a small smile. Surely he didn't mean it to be funny, but she found it so.

"You can file a complaint. Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day." Shane tries to calm the raging Daryl down. Mae watches as the two men grunt and breath heavily. She watches the sweat run down their faces, and the muscles move under their skin as they fight each other. She clutches the knife to her body in one hand and her locket in the other. She seeks it's comfort. Rick kneels down in front of the two men on the ground.

"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can do that? Hmm?" He tilts his head to the side, almost baiting Daryl. Shane tightens his grip around his hostage's neck. Daryl nods the best he can and is thrown to the side. Trying to catch his breath he stays on the ground while Shane stands up. Rick on the other hand stays at level with Daryl.

"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others." Out of no where T-Dog steps in. Mae wants to tell him to stay quiet and leave it to Rick but her words stay to herself. She sees Glenn tense a little as T-Dog gets closer. He is not holding the wood any longer, Mae notices it is thrown on the ground.

"It's not Rick's fault. I had the key." Both Daryl and Rick turn their heads to the man who just made this statement. "I dropped it." Daryl looks done. He looks as if he gives up. He doesn't want to fight anymore. His body, laying on the ground and the tired look on his face says it all. He does comment on T-Dog's words.

"You couldn't pick it up?"

"Well, I dropped it in a drain." Daryl just scoffs and looks to the dirt beneath him. Mae feels terrible for this man. His brother is stuck handcuffed to a roof with just the guess of his survival. She watches as the man on the ground starts to lift himself up. He grabs gravel in his fists as he does so.

"If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't." The gravel leaves his hands, sending dust through the air. He starts to walk away and Mae's eyes follow him. His shoulders sag just enough to look sad but not to be noticed by anyone who isn't looking for it. He stops in his tracks when T-Dog speaks again.

"Well, maybe this will. Look, I chained the door to the roof... so the geeks couldn't get at him." Rick tries to help the situation by adding a "it's gotta count for something," but Daryl doesn't take it. Mae's heart breaks as she watches him sniff and wipe his eyes. No man should have to hear that his brother is locked on the top of a roof with the uncertainty of his life. Daryl motions to everyone.

"Hell with y'all! Just tell me where he is. So's I can go get him." His voice slightly cracks.

"He'll show you." Everyone's attention turns to Lori. "Isn't that right?" Her question is directed towards her husband. He nods to her and tells everyone he is going back.

Daryl is gone and everyone else goes back to what they were previously doing. Glenn turns and asks Mae if she is okay. She nods and smiles at his concern. This boy is too precious. His eyebrows hitch upward when he notices the knife in Mae's hands. When she notices his line a vision she looks down. Oh boy, she has to return it. Or she could just leave the knife on the ground for him to find. That's probably what he will expect anyway. She looks toward the direction Daryl left in and stands frozen. His tent. Daryl went into his tent.

She decides to wait for him to leave his sleeping area and give him his knife when he has cooled off. She sits on a car seat that the group had turned into a bench for sitting around the fire at night. She begins to speak to Carol. This woman is by far, with the exception of Glenn, her favorite person here. She is so kind and nurturing. Mae makes note of this as she is speaking to her. She feels as if she could go to Carol if she is ever upset and Carol will help her with open arms. She is happy that this woman is still here, that people can still be like this.

It has been an hour and a half since the whole fight with Shane, Daryl and Rick happened and Mae is still possession of the knife. She watches as Daryl sits on a chair not to far from her, clean his arrows. He uses a red rag and spit. Everyone does something to help the camp. Right now, Mae is sewing a doll together for Sophia. She offered to make one when she saw the look of envy she gave the other small girl running around the camp with one.

Rick and Shane are heard bickering as they walk from the tent area to the main area. Daryl glaces at Mae a few times without her noticing. He wonders where she came from, and when she got here. He knows she is the one who slept in his tent; when he left it the sleeping bag was in the corner from him looking for one of his arrows, and his vest was thrown in on the ground because he got too hot to wear it. The sleeping bag, as of now, is layed neatly on the ground and the vest is folded at the head of the sleeping bag. The smell of the tent is different as well. The only reason he noticed is because the smell is sweet and he smelled it when he bumped into her near the deer. He'll mention to her that she will never sleep in his tent again, but at a later time. Merle comes first.

"Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?" Mae's head snaps up at this comment knowing it will anger the already angry Daryl. She's right because he stands and points the arrow he is his cleaning at Shane.

"Hey, choose your words more carefully."

"No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant." Mae expects another fight to go down but Daryl seems to accept the comment and sits back down. With his head down he continues to clean his arrows. Mae does the same but sews the doll, though not for long when she hears Lori say, "so you and Daryl, that's your big plan." At this Daryl throws his red rag on the ground but it once again lands by Mae's feet. He stands and Mae picks up the discarded cloth.

"Oh, come on." She hears Glenn's voice. When she sees what is happening she gasps. Rick can't be serious. Daryl going into the city is one thing, it is his brother, but Glenn?

"You know the way. You've been there before. In and out no problem. You said so yourself." Glenn takes off his baseball cap, rubs his head and put the cap back on. His face says he doesn't want to go, but he nods anyway. Daryl sits back down, and Mae plays with the red rag in her hands. Daryl doesn't notice and neither does she.

"It's not fair of me to ask, I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along." Shane doesn't like this situation. Neither does Mae, but she doesn't voice it. She just met these people but in this new world you must either trust them or not, right away. There can not be any second guessing when it comes to people. Mae trusts the group, to say the least. Two major reasons are the reactions to the people returning to the group and the children. She trusts them enough and doesn't want more than the necessary amount of people in danger.

"That's just great. Now you're gonna risk three men?" Shane refuses to drop the subject and accept the death wish Rick is making. T-Dog's voice forces Mae's head to turn and look to where he is. He just says one word and with that signs Rick's death wish as well. She hears Daryl scoff as he examines his now clean arrows. His face seems to always wear a scowl.

"My day just gets better and better, don't it?" Mae looks down when Daryl looks up. She is directly in his line of vision so when ever he looks up he sees her. He notices her head move down but doesn't say anything. He watches as her head lifts again but her eyes never make contact with his, they go straight to the man who answers his question that he had not thought needed an answer.

"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?" Daryl looks at the arrow in his hand when he asks T-Dog why him. Daryl is about to stand when he hears the man's answer but Dale stops him.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language."

"That's four." Daryl stays seated, not starting a fight. Shane can not stand still. He paces back and forth looking from Rick to Daryl and sometimes even to Mae. He doesn't like the proposal. He shakes his head at Dale, his finger points at Rick.

"It's not just four. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that Rick. Come on, you saw that walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here to protect camp." Shane's voice raises and he pants at the end of his rant. His face is red with anger and Mae fears what will happen next. What does happen next isn't what Mae is expecting. She is expecting him to jump Rick, or even Daryl. She expects him to threaten them with something. No, she does not expect when he turns to her and asks her opinion.

"Everyone besides Daryl, Rick and T-Dog thinks this is a death mission. What do you say, Mae?" Her eyes widen. Her mouth opens but no words come out. How could he do this? He can't expect everyone to just listen to her, can he? Mae knows Shane doesn't trust her. She knows he still thinks her group is alive out there. She understands his concern but if he really wants her gone all he has to do is say so.

Mae looks around the group. Every pair of eyes is on her. Glenn nods as if to say "it's okay," Shane stands with his arm crossed, Rick looks to her for her answer with no negative emotion on his face and Daryl stands watching her. Shane must really want her to feel uncomfortable here. He's doing an excellent job of it. She answers with the truth. She doesn't want to lie to this group and lose everyone else's trust.

"Right now family means everything. It doesn't matter what type of person he is, all that matters is that he is not a walker. We all share a common enemy. The dead. The way I see things is this, survivors, like you and me," she aims this at Shane, "are like family now. We need to stick together in order to live through this. If you were in this situation there would be no debate. He deserves to save his brother." Shane's eyes flare with anger but Mae doesn't care. Her focus is on Daryl. His eyebrows are raised, and a look of confusion is on his face. He deserves to have his brother by his side. She may not know Daryl or his brother but if it was Glenn, Rick, Dale or even Shane her answer would have been the same.

No one disagrees with her. They just seem to accept her opinion. All that can run through Daryl's head is _why_. She didn't have to stand up for him. He has done nothing for her to repay him for. She owes him nothing, but now he owes her. He watches as she walks away. Her long brown hair blowing behind her as the wind picks up. Her arms wrap around her body to shield herself for it, and she never looks back. She just walks. No one else seems to notice since they are more focused on what Rick is saying about the guns.

After everybody hears about the gun bag they seem to be on board. Shane not as much but a little more than just before. Glenn notices Mae is gone and sets off to look for her. He doesn't have to look far. She is standing looking out at the quarry. Her arms folded against her chest and a pained look on her face. As he walks up to her he nudges her with his shoulder ever so lightly. She looks up at him and smiles.

"What's wrong?"

"What if I'm wrong? I mean I know that my opinion doesn't make a difference in whether or not you guys save that man, but what if something happens here? The main muscle of this group will be gone, and if walkers come, I don't know what I'll do. I'll feel terrible." Glenn smiles a sad smile. He puts his arm around his new friend and sighs. She focuses on the view in front of her. The water shines in the sun, reflecting the rays. She wishes so badly she had her sketch pad with her. She grips her locket tight as Glenn gives her shoulder a squeeze and walks away.

The sound of a truck's beeping takes Mae's attention. She looks back at camp to see the truck Rick and the group arrived in, backing up into camp. She quickly makes her way over. She wants to say good bye to Glenn before they leave. As she I walking up she sees people scattered around camp, Rick taking to Dale and Jim, and Glenn watching to truck back in.  
"You better come back. You are the only one that likes me here." Glenn laughs. He turns to Mae and tells her not to worry, they will get Merle and the gun bag and be out of the city quickly. She gives him a hug and looks behind him. In the back of the truck she sees Daryl. He looks down at them but his stare doesn't last long on them. Instead he walks back to the front of the truck and honks the horn four times with his foot.

"Come on, let's go!" Glenn squeezes Mae's shoulders then goes around to the driver's side door. Mae stays where she is. She sees Rick go up to the passenger's side and get in. She looks up at the man standing in the back of the truck. Mae reaches into her back pocket and holds out the knife and red rag to him. He looks then kneels down to her level. They make eye contact for just a second before she looks at the items in her hands. He reaches out to grab them and brushes against her hand. Her hands are like ice against his. She looks back up to him with her large grey eyes and sounds sincere when she speaks to him.

"Come back safe, okay? Good luck finding your brother." She flashes him a smile, something he is not used to. She smiles at T-Dog and tells him to be safe as he is getting in the back of the truck, and does the same to Rick as well. Daryl shuts the back door and stands there for a moment. _Damn, I really owe her now. _That is what rolls through his head. This girl is sweet and told him to come back safely, she stood up for him when no one else did and give back his possessions. She's done all that and Daryl hasn't said one word to her. He shakes his head and takes a seat across from T-Dog.

Mae stands and watches the truck drive out of view. She reads the words that are painted on the back door over and over again. _Ferenc Builders._ She wants to regret saying it is a good idea to go in search for Daryl's brother but she can't. If it were someone she cared about she would do the same despite the dangers. She prays for them to return safely. When she turns around to the group she sees that they are already off doing what they were before. No one pays any attention to her. She walks down to the quarry to put her feet in the water and wait for the men to return.

* * *

**Here is a little preview of next chapter! Enjoy!**

**_The walker's grip is too firm and if she can't get to her knife in time, she won't survive. She struggles and puts up a fight. She ran away from the RV, so no one is around to help her. She watches as his other hand reaches for her upper arm. Powerless, she now knows, to stop this creature, she is about to give up fighting. She is about to close her eyes and let him feed._**


	4. We're Even

Disclaimer: I do not own any of The Walking Dead characters. I do not own any dialogue used in the TV show The Walking Dead. I own Mae.

* * *

The day goes by pretty quickly. The events even more heart racing. They vary from the horror of Shane beating Ed to the excitement of Andrea and Amy bringing back a ton of fish from their time on the boat. That is not all the day brings. There is also Jim frying his brain in the sun then getting tied to a tree to cool off. The day has been exciting to say the least. But no matter how exciting the events are, Mae never lets the road go unwatched for too long. She has bitten her nails down to the flesh. Her nerves are getting the best of her.

She may not know this group too well but she doesn't want to see any of them dead. These people care for one another. These people will be destroyed if that group doesn't come back. They need to come back. Her eyes watch for any movement on the road. She tries to picture the four men running the streets of the city. She knows what they look like, the streets. They are full of walkers. They are dangerous, scary, but the men left. They had to.

She pictures Glenn moving swiftly among the walkers, going undetected. She pictures Rick taking the walkers down with his Python. She imagines T-Dog using brute force to bring down walker by walker. Then she sees Daryl. She sees him load his crossbow and shoot a walker in the head. She sees him take the arrow out of it's head and stab another. In her head, the four are still alive and doing well. In reality, Mae couldn't say.

As the day goes on the sun goes down, the air cools, and the group builds a fire. She notices the pit has a rock wall built around it. Morales tells the group that with the wall they can make the fire a bit higher without being seen from a distance. As the chairs are set up around in a circle, Mae keeps her eyes on the road. She prays for that truck to come back. She prays to see that truck roll up those hills, even if it is covered in blood, or body parts. Even if the truck doesn't contain the five people that are supposed to come back. As long as the four that left come back, she will be able to breathe normally again. She feels terrible for thinking that, but it's true.

This group is nothing like her last one. The three men she lived with were great, they helped her live, taught her how to fight and even tried to keep her sheltered as much as they could for the walkers. They tried to keep her away from the world outside the house's unbarricaded door. They tried so hard, but in the end she had to kill. She had to fight for her life, no matter how hard they tried to keep her away from danger. Even with that said, those men weren't like this group. The weren't as attached to one another, nor did they worry much about if one another survived. This group is different. This group is one she wishes to stay with.

She hears Dale call to her. Wanting to just ignore the call and keep watching for the men, she keeps her back to the group. She doesn't want to look away, she doesn't want to take her eyes off the road. What of they come back? What of they don't? What if they need help? No, she wants to stay right where she is. She can't move. She must stand here and keep watch. She must wait until they return.

Mae feels a slight tug on her arm. As she moves her gaze from the road to the small hand on her arm, she smiles. The small blond girl standing beside her continues to tug. In one hand is on her arm, in the other is the doll Mae had sewn her earlier today. That seems like forever ago; sewing that doll, watching the four missing men get ready for their death mission. It feels like years have passed since she said goodbye to Glenn, Rick and T- Dog, and gave Daryl his belongings back. Sophia smiles up at Mae and tugs just one more time. Children being one of her weaknesses, Mae listens. She walks over to the group with Sophia at her side.

With everyone seated around each other this looks like they are all just on a camping trip. If someone were to look at them from above that is what they would see. They would see a group of people enjoying each others company and telling stories around the campfire. As of right now, Mae almost believes that. Dale has asked her to explain what living in England was like. Mae, washed by a wave of homesickness, begins to explain.

"It's like here, almost. I didn't have much money, though I did make it into a nice college on an academic scholarship. I lived with my mum and grandparents. While my grandparents had some money, they never moved from the first house they ever lived in. They didn't want to leave the place their children grew up. Memories, I guess. I went to work everyday at a wonderful hospital. I was happy. It is not much different from here really." Mae looks at each person's face. Each just as content as the next. They need more of this, more normal conversations, less mentioning of the dead and more of the normal boring aspects of life. Andrea laughs a quiet laugh and asks about her love life. With a slight blush Mae answers.

"I have had boyfriends, though not many. I mainly focused on my school work then my job, so I never really had time for one. So to answer your question, though I am twenty six and have had boyfriends, I am a virgin. I am not proud nor ashamed of it." She looks into the fire, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone. Lori is the one to come to her rescue.

"You're waiting for the right guy. That's perfectly understandable. Everyone is different." When Mae's eyes meet Lori's, she sees acceptance in them, almost like Lori has accepted her as one of the group in she short time Mae has been here. The smile on Lori's face causes Mae to smile as well. Slowly Mae can see that this group will welcome her as one of their own. Andrea decides to comment on Lori's statement, not to be mean or insulting, but to put another perspective on things.

"But do you think now is the best time to wait for the "right guy"?" When she says 'right guy' she lifts her hands and makes air quotations. "The pickings are pretty slim, and I don't think there is time to wait around for ." Everyone watches the two women stare at each other. No anger, hatred or bad feelings in their eyes, just curiosity. Mae looks down and nods.

"I suppose you are correct. I must not wait around, as you say, but look. Losing what is pure to me is not my main priority. Making the best of the situation we are in is my main focus. Having a man next to me would be a sweet gift, but it is not a necessity like humanity. I understand you one hundred percent, but I hope to die with my virginity with me, or have it lost to the man I love." No one dare say anything after Mae's small speech. Each watch the flames of the fire set in the center of them, almost as if thinking about what she has just said. Dale watches not the fire but Mae. She is not his daughter, not related to him whats so ever and he barely knows her, but he feels a sense of pride because of her. She is not looking to survive. She is determined to live a life worth living.

As time passes, Mae's nerves cause her to stand. The conversation starts up again when Dale breaks the tension. He begins to speak about the time he had been in a convenient store in a town in Canada and a moose strolled in. This got Sophia and Carl clutching their sides in loud laughter. Everyone else smiles and hangs on to every word of Dale's tale. Mae now stands at the edge of the drop off. Her toes at the edge, waiting for the men to come driving back. She can feel the rocks slip off the edge. She can hear the faint sounds of them hitting the wall below.

The sun has completely set and in it's place the moon has risen. She doesn't know how much longer she can take not knowing whether or not they are coming back. Her fingers hurt from the chewing that has been done to them. Her lips are raw from her teeth pulling at them. Her arms wrap around her torso in an effort to fight off the chills. Not that the air is cold, but the thoughts that come into her mind make her skin raise in small bumps, and makes her teeth chatter.

She can picture Glenn being taken down by three walkers and T-Dog trying to save him. She can hear Rick scream as the walker chows down on him, his last words being 'Lori and Carl'. She can see Daryl fending off fine but not for long. T-Dog, in her mind, kills one biter but the next is to fast for him. Her thoughts are scaring her to the point she starts to hear the moans of the dead around her. Her brain does this cute thing where it scares her until she can do nothing but cry her fears away.

The group, she can tell, is worried as well, but they are trying to stay positive. They are trying to keep their minds off of the missing men the best they can. The stories that have been passed around the campfire are just to pass the time. Mae knows everyone else notices this. They just keep talking, and try to make the best of it for now. The road Mae had been watching earlier is now no longer visible to her eyes. The small amount of light the moon gives is not enough to brighten the street.

Trying to calm herself, she walks back to the group. The topic of conversation is Dale's watch and that is good enough for her. As of right now Morales is pointing at Dale and speaking with laughter in his voice and a smile upon his face.

"... winding that stupid watch." Mae walks back to her seat and sits. She listens to these people gang up on the old man about his watch. His response is to speak of a saying. One she has heard her grandfather speak many times.

"... I give you a mausoleum of all hope and desires, which will fit your individual needs no better that it did mine or my father before me. I give it to you, not that you may remember time but that you may forget it, for a moment, now and then and not spend all of your breath not trying to conquer it." She knows who says it before he even mentions the name. William Faulkner.

Mae smiles at the memory of her grandfather. His old mind, his old fashioned ways of doing things, and the way he would look at her with the up most respect. She can remember the way he smelled and the way he spoke. She can remember her grandmother as well. Everything about her family seems hit her like the ocean would the sand. The only difference is, the wave in her head can never erase the good memories of the people she cared for the most. The print they have left on her shall never fade unlike the sand under the waves beating.

Amy stands to leave for the bathroom, not before making a small joke which gets the group laughing. As she walks to the RV, Mae looks past her. She looks to the road that is not visible to her. She looks for any signs of headlights or movement, but nothing, nothing to signify the return of the men. The more time that passes the less likely they survived. Mae may just have to accept that they will never come back. She is just about to stand and leave to go to sleep in Glenn's tent, when she hears Amy yell to everyone.  
"We're out of toilet paper?" That question is so mundane, so normal that what comes next is not expected. As no one pays much attention to the girl troubled about the lack of toilet tissue, no one is able to tell her that a walker is next to her. No one is able to prevent her from being attacked. No one can stop her from dying. Amy's scream fills the air. The group around the campfire watches Amy's arm being torn apart, frozen in place, unable to do anything.

Walkers. They come from around the RV. They come in great number. There is not just a few, but what looks about twenty maybe twenty five. With more showing up, the camp springs into action. Mae hears the screams of Sophia and Carl. She hears the panic of the women, and the direction of the men. She watches as Shane grabs his gun and pushes Lori and Carl, Carol and Sophia behind him. They all scramble. Gun shots go off. Walkers fall. It is not enough. There are too many. They out number the camp two to one. She needs to fight.

Mae runs for her backpack. She had left it near Glenn's tent, in case that is where she would sleep tonight. In her bag she has her weapons. She has a gun, ammo and two knives. If she can get to them in time, she can help protect the camp. Weapons are thrown around from person to person. As she makes her way to her bag she watches as some of the people of the group fall. She is momentarily stunned by the dead tearing at the flesh of the living. She stands frozen as people scream for their lives, fight for their lives and protect each other with their lives. This attack is unprepared for. No one is ready. People will be lost.

She hears Shane tell everyone to get to the RV. She hears her name being screamed by that same man. He is telling her to get back, to get with the others, to the RV. She knows she needs a weapon, so her backpack must come first.

When she makes it to the tent she wastes no time. As she reaches down to grab the strap, a cold, grey hand takes a hold of her. Her eyes dart up to her holder's face. Biting back a scream she tries to yank free. The man in front of her is no longer a man, but a monster. His jaw snapping at her, his eyes just staring, hungry. She thinks she hears her name being screamed out, but that could be from adrenaline rushing through her body.

The walker's grip is too firm and if she can't get to her knife in time, she won't survive. She struggles and puts up a fight. She ran away from the RV, so no one is around to help her. She watches as his other hand reaches for her upper arm. Powerless, she now knows, to stop this creature, she is about to give up fighting. She is about to close her eyes and let him feed.

Just as the walker is about to bite down on her arm, she is pulled into a body. This body is warm, unlike the walker's hands. His breath is heavy, his grunt is loud. She struggles to get out of his grip, that is, until she smells the woods. She knows this smell. She fell asleep to this smell. Listening to him, she knows that grunt, too. Daryl. Her face against his chest, her body pressed against his, she feels him jerk forward. His hold around her waist is tight, even if she tried to break free she wouldn't be able too.

She bunches a bit of his shirt in her fist. She is terrified. She lets herself not relax but calm down, though not enough to keep the tears from falling. Not before long his shirt is wet with her tears and some of his sweat. If Daryl is here, the others must be as well. Keeping her head buried in his chest she feels him fighting. She feels the muscles move smoothly with each of his movements.

There must have been more walkers around her than she noticed. She hears the number of gun shots and knows the others made it back as well. She hears Rick scream out orders, she hears Glenn yell out in frustration, she hears everyone else just scream.

The death grip around her waist loosens and she is pushed back, not far but enough to see his face. She sees the panic in his eyes, the stress in his face. She notices that he his older than she is, maybe by ten years, possibly even less. She keeps a hold on his shirt, not wanting to let go. With his arm stretched out, and his finger pointing forward, Mae knows what he is telling her. She doesn't argue, just listens to his silent command, though with hesitation. She runs up to the RV with the others.

She watches as the men fight off the remaining walkers. She sees Rick, Glenn and T-Dog. She watches Daryl fight walker after walker. Each falling to his feet. He has no problem taking them down. His body moves fluidly, almost like he knows what he is doing and enjoys it. He never hesitates, he never questions his movements. He knows how to fight, and he is good at it.

She watches as Rick screams out to Lori and Carl, and as Carl runs into his father's arms. Her hands cover her mouth. They shake. Her whole body shakes as she watches the people before her. They all stand there holding their loved ones close. Tears streak down Mae's face, unable to be held back. Looking around, she notices that all of the walkers have been taken care of. The camp can now breathe, and relax.

She sees Glenn, and is about to walk toward him but there is a tug on her hair. When she turns, she lets out the scream she bit back before. Her long hair is knotted in a biter's grasp. He pulls her closer, making those horrible noises. He must have been in the back of the pack, late to the walker's feast. She reaches for her hair to yank free from his grip but he doesn't let up. His fist clenched around his dinner's hair.

He doesn't get her within biting range because he suddenly goes limp. His hand falls, and his knees give out. The arrow pinning him to the RV is responsible for this. With wide, scared eyes, she turns to where the arrow came from. Daryl stands, crossbow in hand, breath heavy, staring at Mae. He lowers the weapon and keeps his eyes on her. She doesn't hide her fear. Her body shakes to much to stand. She collapses with her back against the RV, her eyes never leaving her savior.

Glenn is the only one to run to her side. Although Daryl saved her twice tonight, he doesn't move from his spot to help her. He seems to be surprised with himself, and doesn't attempt to come closer. Glenn helps her up and asks if she is okay. She doesn't know if she herself is nodding or if she is shaking so hard it looks like she is nodding. She watches Daryl, not paying attention to Glenn. He is looking around the campsite. His eyes scan the bodies on the ground around him. When they reach Mae, they stop. She is determined to keep his gaze. She needs him to know that she is grateful. Luckily his eyes never leave hers. He watches as tears stream down her face.

Wrapped in Glenn's hug, she watches as Daryl's face twists in a scowl, and a glare comes to his eyes. She knows he never meant to save her specifically. He would have saved anyone in trouble. She isn't special, but she must thank him somehow. He saved her life, twice. She opens her mouth to say something, anything, but the sound of crying stops her. Her attention go to the two women on the ground next to her. Andrea lays above a bleeding Amy. She cries for her dying sister. Mae knows she will not recover from the bites she has endured. Her heart breaks for the sisters.

No one that night sleeps. Everyone is too shaken up to lay down and close their eyes. Mae sits next to Carol, stroking her back. She has just lost her husband. Though Mae has watched as Ed smacked Carol across the face, she was still married to the man. She must feel some sort of grief, loss, relief, or happiness. Sophia leans against Carol and Carol leans against Mae. Many times during the night, Glenn tries to get Mae to go into a tent to rest. He knows she had almost been attacked twice. He is trying to calm her, but nothing can do that.

Nothing can erase the feeling of her almost giving up. Had it not been for Daryl, she would have been bit. She was about to let that walker take her. This scares her more than the attack itself does. What if this situation comes again? What will she do? Will she fight? Or will she let herself be bit? The thought of her just giving up like that terrifies her. Because of Daryl, she is alive, and for that she owes him her life.

Mae gets up after what feels like hours of sitting. She can't sit any longer. Her legs are cramped and her back is stiff. The sun now is high in the sky. When she asks Dale for the time, he tells her it is around twelve thirty. The sweat drips down her face and back. The heat is unbearable. She is not used to this weather. Back at home, they don't have heat like this. The highest it reaches is ninety five, but even then there is a breeze. The heat here is unrelenting.

Knowing she shouldn't stray far, she just walks within camp. She stops to check on Carl, but he tells her he is fine. When she looks him over she can see a strength that some of the others of the camp do not have. She sees a bravery that many children his age wouldn't have. What surprises her is when he turns the question on her and asks if she is okay. Smiling down at the young boy she nods. Once more he surprises her and wraps his little arms around her waist. Not hesitating, she wraps her arms around him and squeezes slightly. He looks up at her one more time then runs to his mother.

Lori smiles at Mae with the same acceptance as last night. Mae smiles right back but doesn't move to talk to her. She walks to the spot she spent most of last night. She never saw the van come back. She watched all night but she never saw them return. It was only when her body was pressed against Daryl's did she know they had returned. Her arms wrap around her torso, and her eyes close. She takes a moment to breathe. She takes a some time to get her head together.

When the sound of foot steps comes from behind her she knows it is Glenn. He has checked on everyone in the camp and saved her for last. She feels his arm go around her shoulders. She hears him ask how she feels, and she feels her head nod. She hears him talk, but doesn't listen. The fact that he cares enough to check up on her is enough. She doesn't need to listen him tell her it will be alright, and that nothing bad will happen, but when he mentions the name Daryl her head snaps to his.

"What?"

"I saw what happened last night. I saw him grab you from that walker and the others, too."

"H-how? There was a lot going on at the time. You mus-"

"When we were coming back, we heard the screams. When we got to camp...well we saw the... the walkers. The first thing I did was scream your name." Her eyes search his face. She sees that he is sincere. She _had_ heard her name last night. Someone did scream to her. It wasn't adrenaline. Glenn. Glenn worried about her first before anything else. She looks away as he continues, not wanting to stare. "When I screamed out to you Daryl told me to help the others, that he had you. I didn't... I didn't-"

"Glenn-"

"I watched him. I watched him grab you from behind and pull you away from that walker that was holding on to you. He killed the ones around you too, before he let you go. Not only that but the walker at the RV?" He shakes his head as if shaking away some thoughts. His face looks pained. She puts her hand on his arm and at this his head looks down at her slim fingers. When his eyes meet hers, she smiles. To know that he cared enough about her made her want to cry in happiness, but she held back.

"Thank you for caring, Glenn. You don't need too, but you do and that means more to me than you can ever imagine." He smiles down at her and tells her to come back to the group. As they walk back to camp, Glenn tells her a joke, which makes her stop and clutch her sides.

As she looks around camp she has to wipe the tears from her eyes. Laughing feels good, but after what just happened she doesn't think she should be laughing. She looks around camp and she what she sees are the pieces of a broken group. She sees Andrea still hovering over her sister, Sophia and Carol are where Mae left them, and Rick, Shane and Lori are talking amongst themselves. She watches as T-Dog and Morales drag dead bodies into a pile and notices Glenn has joined them. He is quick to help, she hadn't noticed he left her.

Her gaze stops when it reaches Daryl. He has a pickaxe in his hands walking around to each body. She watches as he raises the axe over his head and drives it into the head of the walker at his feet. When he looks up, he sees that she is staring. With a quick nod in her direction and nothing more, he moves on. She keeps him in her peripheral vision. She doesn't openly stare, but makes sure he is always there, in her view.

He saved her, for what? Why did _he_ save her? Glenn would have done a wonderful job of saving her and she wouldn't have to think much about it. He has saved her once before and she knows he cares about her, but Daryl? Daryl seems to be the type of person who only has room in his heart for one person, probably his brother, and wouldn't bother with any one else. Why did he tell Glenn not to rescue her? Why did he even think about saving her when he could have saved anyone else?

There is also the way he saved her. He pulled her to him. He forced her body against his when he could have just shot the walker in the head. She thinks back on the attack, sending shivers down her spine. The moment she knew it was him was when she smelled the woods. When she smelled the damp earth, when she smelled the intoxicating scent that she associates with Daryl, she immediately knew. She remembers feeling a strap across his chest, which was most likely the crossbow. She remembers hearing something fall to the ground with a thump, could that have been a gun? Why did he pull her towards him? Her thoughts are interrupted by the man of her thoughts voice.

"Y'all can't be serious. Let that girl hamstring us? The dead girl's a time bomb." Mae makes her way over to the small group that has formed. Lori looks to her, and tells her to come join. She is the only one to notice Mae's arrival. Rick responds to Daryl's outburst.

"What do you suggest?" Daryl moves toward Rick, pickaxe over the shoulder.

"Take the shot. Clean, in the brain. Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance." When Mae gasps is when the other five notice her presence. Her hand covers her mouth and she feels Lori's hand on her back. Lori comes to Mae's aid and tells the men that shooting Amy in the head is off limits for now. She forces Mae to sit with her on the couch, along with Carol. Daryl looks from person to person, landing on Mae. She shakes her head in disgust and looks away. She hears him leave the small group but doesn't watch to see where he goes. Keeping him in her vision is the last thing she wants to do.

"Mae, are you okay?" Lori asks while she continues to rub Mae's back. Her soothing motions relax Mae as she sits there shaking.

"Yes," is Mae's only reply. 'Yes' is all Mae can say for the time being. Her head is spinning with thoughts she would rather not think. Thoughts of Daryl, Glenn, Lori, the world they live in and death. What if they aren't meant to live in this world? What if they are supposed to be bit and live as the walkers do? What if this is how it is supposed to be?  
"It's okay if you're not, you know? You were in the hands of a walker." She turns to Lori, tears about to fall, hands clenched in fists. Her thoughts threaten to become vocal, even if she knows she will just scare the ones around her. Last night she was about to give up. Maybe she did what was right and Daryl screwed it up for her. _No!_ No, Daryl saved her when she needed to be saved. She is about to start crying from the confusion in her head but the attention goes from Mae to Glenn in a matter of seconds.

"This is for geeks! Our people go over there!" Glenn's voice comes to Mae's ears, full of horror and desperation. She watches Morales and Daryl pull a man, who she had seen around camp over the past two days, to the burning bodies of walkers. Glenn points to the row of dead bodies of the other people of camp as he speaks. Once again Daryl speaks ugly words.

"What's the difference? They're all infected." Though the words are true, these people were part of the group and should be treated like family. Infected or not.

"Our people go in that row over there." Glenn gets the men to stop dragging the dead body. They both look up at his as he half cries half yells his next sentence. "We don't burn them! We bury them. Understand?" To Mae's surprise Daryl just nods with out saying anything, and with the help of Morales, pulls the man to the row of the dead group members. Daryl doesn't stay quiet for long. As he drops the arm he was dragging, he speaks his mind.

"Y'all left my brother for dead! You had this comin'!" He points to the dead group members and walks away. Mae stands up and follows him.

* * *

He hears small foot steps following behind him; knowing full well who it is, and he stops short. _Why her?_ Why does she need to be the one to follow him? What does she hope to accomplish? To calm him down? To make his rage just magically go away? His name comes out softly from her lips, not soft in a soothing way, though to Daryl her quiet voice is velvet, but in a scared way; fear, hesitation, and timidity lace her words. He scares her. Dragging his hand down his face and letting out a heavy breath, he turns to her. A whole head and a half shorter than him, he tilts his head down. His words come out harsh, and unforgiving without meaning to.

"Whaddo you want? Leave me the hell alone." She reaches for something around her neck, a necklace maybe, and looks down. He huffs out a breath and waits for her to leave or at least say something. He watches as she bites her lower lip and looks up at him. Her grey eyes study his face, darting from his eyes, to his mouth and cheeks, then back again. As her hands drop from her necklace, she begins speak only to be cut off at the first word.

"I-"

"A walker got him. A walker bit Jim." This catches Daryl's attention more than the small girl standing before him does. Gently moving her out of the way, he grabs the pickaxe and walks over to Jim and Jacqui. With his arm pointed towards the couple, he demands to see the bite. This, of course, draws everyone else around the camp to watch.

Daryl tries to keep his focus on the man in question but his attention goes to the Asian boy rushing to Mae's side, just for a second. He watches as Glenn asks her something, to which she responds with shaking her head from side to side, confusion written all over her face. Her hair, he notices, is long; much too long. If last night didn't tell her that, he surely will. That long brown hair of hers is going to get her bit, it has to go.

Jim brings Daryl's attention back to the situation, when he picks up a shovel and holds it defensively in front of his body. Staying far enough from the man, Daryl tells him to show the bite a second time. With the shovel in his hand, Daryl can't get close enough to Jim. T-Dog does the smart thing and grabs him from behind. This forces the shovel to fall to the ground with a clang. Daryl takes this opportunity to grab Jim's shirt and lift it. Under the protection of the faded red tee is a circle of what looks like holes. These holes, unfortunately, have been caused by a walker. The pattern has been seen over and over again in Daryl's journey of survival.

Daryl backs up slowly, with his jaw dropped, and hands clenched. He hears a faint "Oh, God," and knows who it comes from. Her scared voice floats to his ears. She turns away from Glenn, away from the group. No one speaks. No one has anything to say; there is nothing to say. Jim is bit, and they have to deal with it.

Shaking his head he walks over to Rick and Shane. Others follow in suit, but Jim walks over to sit near the RV, away from the conversing people, and Mae walks into the woods. Glenn watches after her until she is out of view to him, and turns to join Daryl and the others. He has a pained look on his face, almost as if he isn't sure whether he should be here or go after the scared girl in the woods.

As Shane and Rick speak, Daryl looks into the mouth of the woods. He can just see her hunched body sitting on a log. If she goes any deeper into the woods, someone will have to stop her. The woods are off limits to single people. Only in groups of two or more can go into deep into the woods, and even then it is frowned upon. He watches as she pulls her hair to the top of her head and tie it there. Her head stays focused on the ground, as if it hold all of life's answers. T-Dog's voice stirs his attention from the girl in the woods to the group in front of him.

"What do we do?"

"I say we put a pickaxe in his head and the dead girl's and be done with it." Axe in hand, back to Jim, he tells the group his opinion, even if they don't want to hear it. He knows they won't listen to him, but he has to try. He doesn't care much for the group, but he does owe Glenn his life and if that means making sure he isn't bit by some guy who the group refuses to put down, then so be it. Shane is the one to respond.

"Is that what you'd want?"

"Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it." Daryl replies with all honesty. If he is ever bitten, he will pull the trigger himself. There is no way he will let himself turn into one of those things. Dale says he agrees with Daryl, which is a surprise to everyone, and the idea shot is down almost as quickly as it is voiced.

"Jim is not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog." Rick takes control of the conversation. "He's sick. A sick man. We start down that road, where do we draw the line?" At this Daryl scoffs.

"The line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers, or them to be." The conversation goes on from here. Daryl only partly listens. He thinks to himself that even if they get to a refugee, or CDC, it will be too late. Jim will have turned even before they reached the destination. Thinking that taking action himself will be the only way to solve the problem, he advances toward Jim with the pickaxe at the ready.

"You go looking for aspirin, do what you need to do. Someone needs to have some balls to take care of this damn problem!" Just as he gets to the "sick" man a cool, metal object is pressed against his head. He pauses momentarily, not wanting the man behind the gun to make any rash decisions.

"We don't kill the living." Daryl turns his head slowly to Rick, and lowers the weapon in his hand. Showing Rick he won't attack may make him lower the gun in his hand. He knows Rick won't pull the trigger, which is why the scowls and remarks on the position of the men.

"That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head." Rick doesn't lower the gun. The muscles in his arm strain with anticipation. Shane tells Daryl to put his weapon down, and he listens. Not to give in, or tell them they are right, but to get away from them. Cops piss him off. He didn't get into a lot of trouble as a young adult, but cops make him itchy, and on edge. They gang up on their prey like a pack of wolves. They can be dangerous, even in this world.

Daryl throws the axe down onto the ground, and leaves the main area of the camp. He heads into the woods, knowing that here is the only place he can find peace. This time is different. Peace doesn't come instantly like it normally does, it is interrupted by the girl sitting against a log, with her knees brought up to her chest and he head resting on the top of her folded legs. He knows she is not crying, he sees no shaking shoulders and he hears no sniffles. She must be tired, she probably fell asleep.

Before she can notice that he is standing in the same vicinity as her, he leaves. He doesn't want to speak to her. She will probably bring up what happened during the attack last night, and that is something he doesn't want to talk about. He shouldn't have done it but he couldn't get her standing up for him, and returning his belongings, and the worst of them all, the look she gave him, and the way she told him to come back safely, out of his head. He wanted to get that favor he owed her off his back. He wanted to get it over with so he didn't have to think about it.

Regret soon fills him as he quickly leaves the girl he saved behind, alone in the woods. Daryl walks over to the remaining bodies in need of a spike through their heads. They are the campers. They are the ones that the group is going to bury. One by one he swings the axe into each head. When he reaches the last one, he is stopped by Carol. He doesn't say anything when she asks for the axe. He just squints at her as she raises the heavy tool above her body and drives it into the skull of her dead husband. She does this a couple of times and by the time she is done, sweat mixes with tears and she walks away.

The rest of the day goes by pretty quickly. The group buries their dead, and they have a sort of ceremony for the loved ones. Jim stays shacked up in the RV, riding out the fever that will soon kill him. Rick, Shane, and Dale sweep the woods for any remaining walkers. Shane voices to everyone that the plan is to find the CDC and find help for Jim. No one argues with the plan, just begin to pack.

Daryl tries to keep tabs on Mae, just to make sure she doesn't stray far, but doesn't do a very good job of it. He left her in the forest, but the next time he sees her is at the 'funerals,' after that he sees her walk out of the RV. She must have been visiting Jim. Right now, she is playing with Sophia, Carl and the other kids.

She chases them around the camp but all of a sudden they sit down quickly, and she moves on to the next kid. Some sort of tag he suspects. He over hears both Lori and Carol talking about Mae and the kids. What they say is the last thing Daryl would expect.

"I think it is great that she loves the children and that the children love her. She takes their minds off of the surrounding dangers."

"I totally agree. They will have some sort of childhood with Mae around. She was a nurse, I think she said, and she worked with kids. Look they are all laughing." Daryl turns his attention from the two mothers and back to packing his tent and what few belongings he has. He makes sure the straps that hold his brother's motorcycle in the bed of the truck are fastened tight.

As the sun sets, the group is ready to leave. Morales and his family have decided that they will be joining the rest of their family somewhere else. Rick gives them a gun and a radio, just in case they change their minds and come looking for the rest of the group. The family says goodbye to the rest of the group. Tears, hugs and advice are being passed around the group of people. Goodbyes aren't Daryl's thing so he just continues to get his things together. These people don't mean much to him, so seeing them leave doesn't stir up any heart warming feelings.

There is a problem when it comes to the seating arrangements but it is sorted out rather quickly. Dale is driving the RV, which holds Glenn, Jim, and Jacqui, Rick is driving Lori, Carl, Carol, and Sophia, and Shane driving the bulk of the supplies. There is also T- Dog and Andrea who also are carrying a lot of supplies, and then there is Daryl. He refused to let anyone in the truck with him, but as he sees the problem, he opens the passenger's seat to Mae but doesn't look happy about it. In fact he makes his displeasure known.

The last person he wants in his truck with him is her, and possibly Shane. Glenn shoots down the idea and tells Daryl that there is plenty of room in the RV for her. Daryl doesn't fight the China man's decline of his offer and hops in his truck. The entire time Mae doesn't look at him, or even acknowledge his presence. Although he doesn't mind, this confuses him. She wanted to speak to him just earlier, and he couldn't look up with out seeing her eyes fixated on him, but now she won't even attempt to look at him when he speaks about her. Too much drama in too little time with this chick.

They have to stop once on their travels because of a problem with the RV. T- Dog and Shane drive ahead to see if they can get anything to fix the problem. In that time, Rick has go into the RV to check up on Jim and has come out with the news that Jim has made the decision to be left behind. At this Daryl hears Mae gasp and watches Glenn put his arm around her and pull her to him in an attempt to comfort her.

Daryl notices that in the span of three days, this girl has grown feelings for the people of the group. She runs around with the kids, she helps the people who need help, she comforts the people in need of comfort and tries to keep everyone's spirits up. As much as he doesn't want anything to do with these people, he realizes that with Merle MIA, he might just have to grow to be one of them. They don't shun him, or treat him any different, but they are not as friendly or warm towards him. Mae has shown him kindness in the span of twenty minutes of meeting him.

When Shane and T- Dog return from their scavenging, bringing back what is need to fix the RV, Shane helps Rick carry Jim out of the RV and to a tree close by. Each person takes their turn to say goodbye to the man who decided his fate. He sits propped against a tree, unable to move himself, and faces each person. Jacqui is crying when she says her goodbye, she kisses his cheek and walks away. Rick offers Jim a gun, but he declines the offer, claiming he would be joining his family this way.

Dale crouches before the weak man and thanks him for fighting for the group. Everyone else just sort of smiles, and tries to say goodbye with out really saying goodbye. When the people clear out of the way, Daryl is left. Feeling he should start on building those bonds, he inclines his head to Jim. He says nothing to the man, just the simple head gesture. Jim seems grateful for the support of everyone he has survived with.

When Mae walks up to him, he smiles. Daryl watches as Mae places a wild flower she had picked at the campsite just before they left, in Jim's hands and puts her hand on his cheek. She speaks words Daryl does not understand, and he is sure the rest of the people, including Jim, can not comprehend.

"Ce n'est pas un adieu, mon ami, mais d'une simple separation." Jim just smiles a painful smile at her and she mumbles something Daryl can not hear. Mae stands up and walks over to Glenn. His arm goes around her and squeezes her shoulder slightly. Rick tells the group that they should keep moving on, that they don't have any time to waste. Daryl walks straight to his truck and doesn't look back at the rest of the group. He waits with his head down on the steering wheel until he hears the rest of the vehicles start up. As he starts his truck he takes one last look at Jim. He chose this, he chose to become a walker, Daryl just hopes they don't meet up with Jim later on down the road.

With the sun setting, Daryl figures they have traveled far enough to be at least halfway there. Stopping for only two pee breaks, the group finds themselves at the point of destination. The CDC. What they expect the place to look like is not what they are looking at now. Bodies are everywhere. The property before the CDC building is covered in what could be 'sleeping' walkers. These are also known as lurkers. They play possum, keeping still until their next meal walks by and when it does they attack.

As Daryl joins the group, he notices all of their reactions are the same, sheer horror. Rick doesn't stay still for very long, he begins walking toward the building almost immediately. The group follows their leader into this death trap. Daryl hears Glenn tell Mae to stay close to him, and if anything moves say something. Daryl stays at the rear of the group in case a lurker wakes up. Directly in front of him is Mae's trembling body. She listens to Glenn and stays close, but not close enough. Daryl can tell Glenn is bothered by her distance by the way he reaches behind him to grab her.

The whole place reeks of the dead. Most of the group cover their noses and mouths in an attempt to block out the stench. They follow Rick as quickly and quietly as they can, but with all of the bodies everywhere it is almost like an obstacle course.

So far, the bodies lay still. They are covered in a mix of blood, dirt and flies. None seem to be moving as they approach the building. Keeping both a gun and his crossbow at the ready, Daryl walks backwards for a bit, just to make sure they aren't being followed.

The closer they get to the massive structure ahead of them the more closely the bodies lay. They seem to be spread out more near the cars but as they make their way forward, the bodies tend to lay on top of each other. The metal shutters are closed when they finally reach their destination. No amount of pulling or pushing will open them. Rick and Shane knock on them with their fists. Daryl watches from the back of the group, getting ready to make his way back to the cars. He doesn't think anyone is here, and if there is or was, they are probably the ones laying out in the yard.

"There's nobody here." T-Dog is the first to speak what everyone else is thinking. Rick won't take that for an answer so he continues to try to communicate to the people who are probably not even there.

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick asks the group. He has a point but that point flies out the window when Daryl feels a small, cold hand on his upper arm. He looks down at the owner of the hand, but only for a second. When he sees the terror on Mae's face he looks in the direction she is looking. His arm instinctively pushes Mae's body behind his. He yells out 'walkers' to alert the group or the on coming beings. Daryl feels the back of his shirt tighten in the grip of the girl he is once again protecting. She stays close to him as he aims his crossbow at the walker advancing toward the group. The arrow soars through the air and brings the walker down upon impact. His shirt tightens in the fists of the girl behind him again, and he gets angry. Not at Mae, but at the women and children crying. At the fear Rick and Shane have brought upon the group. The fear they could have avoided.

"You lead us into graveyard!" His shirt rips free from Mae's grip as he approaches Rick. Shane is quick to step in between the two. He tells Daryl to shut up and that Rick made a call.

"It was the wrong damn call!" Pacing, he makes his way to the back of the group again. He is fuming. He hears Shane, Lori and Rick fight it out. The longer they stand there fighting, the more walkers rise. Mae stands close behind him, with a hand clenching his shirt again.

When the decision to go back to the cars is made, Daryl tells Mae to stay close, and that if she didn't, she will most likely get hurt or worse. She just nods her head, to scared to speak. Rick and Shane start arguing again about the camera moving this time. When Rick begins to scream and kick the metal shutter Daryl stops what he is doing. His focus doesn't stay long on Rick, because if it did, he and the group may have died.

"Daryl. Daryl!They're-" The pressure on his back leaves but returns to his arm almost instantly. Her nails dig into his skin as he aims his crossbow. He doesn't fire because he doesn't have many arrows left, he needs them to hunt quietly, and go undetected. If he is to shoot the gun, it will wake any walker playing dead and draw them to the survivors and they couldn't afford that. Mae's name is called out by Glenn, but she doesn't move. She stays attached to Daryl's side, almost as if trusting him.

Rick screams out 'you're killing us!' while being dragged away from the doors. Ready to move, Daryl turns around to call out to Rick, but the sound of creaking metal stops him. Light floods before the group, and everyone goes silent.

* * *

**Here is a little preview of next chapter! Enjoy!**

_**"Come in, I don't care." Her eyes shoot to his. Daryl sees a new confidence, and it looks good on her. A smirk graces her lips and her hands drop to her hips.**_

_**"Are you going to be nice to me now that you have seen me naked?" The blood leaves his face. His mouth opens and closes like a fish, and he just stares at her. He doesn't know how to react, he doesn't know what to say.**_**How did she know?**


	5. Don't trust me

Disclaimer: I do not own any of The Walking Dead characters. I do not own any dialogue used in the TV show The Walking Dead. I own Mae.

Wow! it has been a long time since I last uploaded anything. I am so sorry! This chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but I got what I wanted done.

Once again, I am terribly sorry about the wait.

* * *

_Rick screams out 'you're killing us!' while being dragged away from the doors. Ready to move, Daryl turns around to call out to Rick, but the sound of creaking metal stops him. Light floods before the group, and everyone goes silent. _

The group stops. No one moves for a moment, to stunned to do anything. Mae can see Rick start to walk toward the now open doors. His gun raised ready to shoot, and his footing careful. The rest of the survivors slowly move with Rick. With her hand on Daryl's arm, she has no choice but to follow him. She can, of course, let go, but at the moment letting go is not an option.

As they enter the building, she notices all of the lights are turned off. The air around her goes from hot and sticky, to cool and soothing. Anyone with a weapon has it poised to fire, or swing. No one lets their guard down. The doors may have opened but that doesn't mean the people inside the building are any better than the ones trying to eat them.

Mae notices that Daryl doesn't force her hold off his arm. He just seems to accept it. With his arm flexed and his guard on high, it is hard not to feel at least a little safe around him; that is, unless he turns on her. Stowing the fears of Daryl himself to the back of her mind, she returns her attention to the situation at hand. Rick calls out a few hellos, determined to get an answer. The answer he gets is not a friendly one at first. The sound of a gun cocking in the near distance forces everyone to turn.

Weapons at the ready, Mae sees a man standing in the shadows. He is wearing a plain white tee shirt and what looks like pajama pants. He has no shoes or socks. In his hand is a gun, whether it is loaded or not, she can not tell. Though with the dead walking around outside, she figures it is loaded.

"Anybody infected?" The man in the shadows calls out. With his feet spread slightly, and his gun ready to go, Mae can tell he doesn't want the group here. Rick speaks for the group like the leader he is.

"One of our group was." He pauses, breathing heavy. "He didn't make it." Satisfied with Rick's answer the man steps down and into the light. He looks to be in his forties from the distance Mae is at. His hair is a pale blonde and he probably has some greys mixed in there. As he steps towards the group slowly, with the gun still raised, he watches their reactions. This doesn't offend the group for they too still have their weapons drawn. The man speaks to anyone who will answer.

"Why are you here and what do you want?"

"A chance." Rick replies, simply.

"That's asking an awful lot these days."

"I know." The silence between the group and the man could be cut with a knife. No one dare speak out, in fear the man will make them leave. Mae's grip on Daryl's arms tightens slightly and this causes him to look at her. She refuses to look up at him because she refuses to let go. If she makes any type of communication with the man standing next to her, he will force her to move away from him. Right now, she is far too scared to leave his side. Even if he is doing nothing to protect her, she feels safest right here.

"You all submit to a blood test, that's the price of admission."

"We can do that." Rick decides for the group. This man is serious about not wanting them to stay. Mae breathes a sigh of relief when it is clear that this man is allowing them entrance to his locked down fortress. For the night they are safe.

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed." The man says, lowering his gun and walking toward the doors. Rick nods to his command and turns to his people. He instructs Daryl, Glenn, and Shane to go with him to the cars. He tells the group that if everyone goes there is a bigger chance someone might get hurt. Women and children are to stay inside. This means Mae must let go of the arm she is clutched to.

As Daryl nods, the tiny, cold hands that have been clutched tightly to his arm, leave. Mae steps back away from him. Her body shakes but Daryl doesn't think it is from the air conditioning. Her hands go up to her necklace and remain there. This is the second time he has watched her do this. The need to ask her why burns in his throat, but the need to get the supplies burns in his legs and wins out.

He turns away from the girl and heads out the door. He, Glenn, Rick, and Shane are quiet as they move through the maze of walkers. Some are up and moving, some lay still. The few that are moving are taken down silently with Daryl's crossbow. They are quick in the cars. Daryl grabs his bag, and helps the others with their stuff. He is handed a small cloth back pack. He knows who's it is. The bag it's self is light, like it doesn't contain much, maybe just clothes. He is tempted to open it, just to see if he is right, but he doesn't. There is no time.

As quickly as they can, the four men run back to the open building. As they run through the doors, Dale and T- Dog close them. The man who is letting them stay slides a card through something on the door and tells a woman to 'seal the main entrance and kill the power up here.' As he finishes his command the metal shutter return to their original place. Down.

Daryl puts down his large bag, and turns to Mae. She looks up at him with wide eyes. As he hands the girl her bag, she smiles at him. Not the type of smile she showed him when he left to find his brother but a subtle smile, one almost not there. He, some how, picked up on her gratitude. His reaction stays the same. He doesn't smile but he doesn't scowl. His face remains neutral. She takes her backpack from him and slings it over her shoulder

The man, Dr. Jenner, leads the group to an elevator. With everyone piling in, the space is cramped. In between Glenn and himself stands Mae, with her little shaking body. She hasn't stopped shaking since they walked into the building. Breaking the tense silence, Daryl speaks.

"Doctors always go around packin' heat like that?" This earns him a giggle from the girl standing next to him. To him it was a serious question, but to her he guessed not. He hears Glenn begin whisper to Mae.

"I told you to stay close to-"

"Shh, I made it here safe, did I not?" She cuts him off with a less than friendly remark. This makes Daryl want to smirk but he holds back. Dr. Jenner responds to his question with 'there were plenty left lying around, I familiarized myself.' Daryl doesn't take his eyes off Jenner. In the corner of his eye he sees Mae shift from foot to foot. Her shuffling doesn't go unnoticed by Glenn either. He hears Glenn ask her what's wrong and he almost laughs at her answer. Almost.

"Mae, what's wrong? You won't stop moving."  
"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I just... I really have to- I mean, I have to pee." Glenn is put on the spot, and doesn't respond. He is luckily saved by the doors to the elevator opening. They step into a white hallway. Come to think of it, the whole place is white, the floors, the walls, the furniture that has been seen. As they walk down the hallway, Carol asks if they are underground. Jenner replies with smart ass respond which means yes.

They aren't in the hallway for long. They make their way to a large dark opening. When Jenner tells ViI to turn the lights on, it turns out that the dark opening is just a huge room with computers. There is a small conversation between Rick and Jenner, but Daryl's mind is elsewhere; specifically on Mae and Glenn. He watches as Glenn takes her backpack from her shoulders and whispers something to her. She seems angered by whatever he had said because she walks away from him. She doesn't stop at Daryl either, she just walks until she is standing next to no one.

"It's just me here." When Daryl comes back to the conversation it is about VI.

"What about the person you were talking to? VI?" Lori speaks up from the back of the group. Jenner's response is to call out to VI and tell her to say hello. Turns out, VI is a computer of some sort. It also turns out it truly is just Jenner. He even apologizes for it. The next person to speak is Mae.

"So, when are you going to take our blood? The computer is nice and all but, I think we might want to know whether or not we're staying." Everyone is shocked. Daryl didn't think she could speak up like that. Not that he thinks she is weak, but he just thought she was too nice for that. Jenner isn't phased by the question and tells the group to follow him. Daryl sees Rick stay behind until Mae walks up to him. He has a smile on his face and doesn't seem to be upset with her. She even smiles back.

Not before long Daryl, along with the group, are in a room with a bunch of chairs. Each take a seat after Jenner tells them to. Jenner starts with Rick and works his way around the room. Each person sits in front of the doctor just long enough for him to take blood. No one stays to speak with him, that is until Andrea gets her blood done.  
"What's the point? If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever." Daryl finds himself standing right next to Mae. He thinks back to when he got his blood done and that was after her. So he walked over to her without knowing it. She must have a gravitational pull. Under her breath she mutters words in a different language.

"Ici nous allons." Confused, he looks down at her. She notices because she looks up at him and smiles. His face must have confusion written all over it since she clarifies herself. She leans close to him and whispers softly.

"_Here we go_." Daryl doesn't notice that he is leaning towards her to make it easier to hear what she has to say, until he leans back. The pull. That gravitational pull. Yeah, that's it. A small smirk graces his face. So, she's not just nice and boring, she has a personality.

"I've already broken every rule in the book by letting you in here. Let me, at least be thorough." As Jenner finishes taking Andrea's blood, she stands. She doesn't make it very far without swaying. Jenner asks if she is alright and Jacqui answers for her.

"She hasn't eaten in days. None of us have." This must set something off in Jenner's head because he offers them a meal. Not having to be told twice, the group follows the doctor into a cafeteria like room. Although the group has to make the meal, they are happy all the same. Everyone laughs and jokes, now that there is food in their stomachs. It is when the wine is being passed around that the group really loosens up.

* * *

Mae was never a drinker, but since the end of the world has happened, she decides to make an exception. As the bottle is passed from person to person the room becomes louder. The more alcohol the group drinks, the more they laugh. Mae can tell just by the way Glenn looks at the red liquid that he too is not a big drinker.

He looks towards her with a questioning look. His eyebrows knit together as if the bottle is a puzzle. She smiles and pours some wine in his glass. He doesn't drink right away but Mae figures he will when he is ready. She pours some in a glass of her own and looks around to see who wants it. Turns out Dale is the one who takes the bottle, but her eyes settle on Daryl. He has a small gun tucked in the front of his pants. Some how Mae doesn't think a drunk Daryl and a loaded gun mix, but she keeps her mouth shut.

He is holding a bottle of his own in his right hand and has his left holding him up. He must notice a pair of eyes on him because he turns to her. With a small, and small is stretching it, smirk on his face, he lifts his bottle towards Mae's direction. Flashing him a smile, she turns to Dale and Lori bickering.

"Well, and when Carl is in Italy or France he can have some then." She lifts her glass to drink but is stopped by her husband. Rick is all for Carl trying the wine. Apparently he knows the end of the world has come and is going to let his son have a taste. Mae thinks that Rick knows Carl will not like it, so he is willing to let the young boy try it. Lori gives in almost immediately to the man she clearly loves.

Mae smiles and laughs along with the group. Her attention seems to be bent on staying on Daryl. The alcohol must be getting to him since there is a smile on his face. She notices that a quarter of his bottle is gone and is wondering how he isn't falling over himself.

The group goes quiet, causing Mae's focus to go to Carl. She watches as he lifts the glass to his lips and takes the tiniest of sips. His face scrunches up in disgust and he yells "eww!" This gets the crowd laughing again.

"Why don't you, uhh, stick to soda pop there, bud?" Shane speaks to the table, not really looking at Carl, as the laughter dies down. The attention doesn't stay long on Shane because Daryl, surprisingly, takes the spot light. Glenn is handed the wine bottle and this is when Daryl speaks to him.

"Not you Glenn! You're drinking, little man. I wanna see how red your face can get." His teasing tone to Glenn makes Mae's smile grow. Glenn turns to her laughing.

"Go on, drink. I'll tell you what. You drink, and I will be your designated driver." This makes the group laugh harder. Glenn teases Mae by pouring more alcohol in her cup. Laughing and shaking her head, she takes a sip. She is careful not to drink too much, just enough to get a buzz. Sitting on the counter with Glenn turns out to be dangerous when he pushes her off. Stumbling slightly she can't catch her balance. She stays on the floor with her back against the counter and Glenn's feet swinging back and forth. She closes her eyes as Rick makes a speech like flow of words. She hears Daryl say "booyah!," and the rest of the group follow.

The fun the survivors are having abruptly comes to a halt when Shane speaks again.

"So, when you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, Doc? Hmm? All the, uhh, the other doctors." The room goes silent. With her eyes closed, she rolls them. She didn't think anyone would want to spoil the fun the group was finally having. Mae doesn't know what everyone is doing, but she knows the attention is on Jenner. Knowing she shouldn't, but does it anyway, she speaks.

"We saw them. We killed some of them. Come on, you can't be as foolish to think they made it very far with all those lurkers out there." She isn't sure but she thinks all heads are turned toward her. She keeps her eyes closed. Earning a small kick from Glenn, Mae smiles. She must have pissed off Shane.

"Where are the other doctors? That's what we came for Rick, right? We came for some answers?"

"Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left. Went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got over run, the rest bolted."

"Every last one?" Shane can really rub people the wrong way. Mae can hear the arrogance, and smile in his voice. She can picture his face with that stupid smirk he does when he thinks he is right. Mae hasn't been around long at all, but she has figured out little quirks about the people around her. Jenner continues to answer just to prove Shane wrong.

"No. Many couldn't face walking out the door. They _opted_ out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time." Mae can hear the pain in Jenner's voice. She can hear the hesitation in his telling. Andrea speaks and she has a point when she says "you didn't leave." She then asks him why. Mae doesn't think Jenner will answer but she is proven wrong when he does.

"I just kept working, hoping to do some good." There is a thump next to her but she doesn't have to open her eyes to know that Glenn jumped off the counter. As he walks in front of her, he speaks. His remark makes Mae chuckle.

"Dude, you are such a buzz kill." He kneels before Mae and put his hands on her shoulders. She opens her eyes and looks into his. He has a soft smile on his face and reeks of wine. She knows he will have a hangover tomorrow morning, and if this is his first, it will be horrible for him.

With the mood of dinner completely ruined, Jenner escorts the group out of the cafeteria and down some hallways, giving a half ass tour of the place. Mae notices that when they walk through a dark place the lights go on but they do not stay lit. They turn off when the last person, being Mae, passes through. She is guessing that due to the lack of electricity in the world, Jenner is trying to use as little as possible.

Mae loses Glenn in the beginning of the 'tour.' He begins walking too fast for her, so she just stays in the back. She keeps her eyes on her feet, she doesn't notice the crowd in front of her has stopped. She runs right into the body in front of her. Of course she knows who it is. She mumbles a sorry but doesn't look up. She hears Glenn's voice in the near distance.

"Hot water?" His face lights up in pure happiness. T- Dog laughs and they rest of the group waste no time jumping in that hot water.

* * *

As much as he wants to take his shower, he waits. There aren't enough showers for everyone to take one at the same time. He waits an hour before even walking toward the showers. Daryl decides to claim a room for himself. There may not be enough rooms for anyone, and he will not share with anyone. As he walks down the hallway, he peeks into each room. His eyes scan for bodies occupying any space. The first few rooms have a body, but he quickly reaches one without.

He places his bag and crossbow on the floor next to the small bed and his wine bottle on the bedside table, not before taking a drink. As he looks around the room he notices not much is in it. The walls are bare. There are no windows what so ever. He remembers the doctor saying to Carol that they are underground. He doesn't mind. He is safe from walkers, the air is cool and it is his turn to take a shower. Nothing at the moment can go wrong. He cannot wait to feel the hot water run over his body, to feel clean again. The dirt may be permanent for all he knows.

Daryl walks toward the shower after his small investigation of the place. He hasn't found much, just a few empty rooms, some labs, his group and their rooms. Nothing special stands out to him; nothing of importance. He wonders what Rick's big plan is. They can't stay here forever, the supplies will run out and when they do, what happens? They will have to move. Daryl decides to put that in the back of his mind and the shower in front.

As he enters the rooms that hold the key to pleasure for just a few minutes, he notices it is empty. He hears a shower running but it is basically empty. He wanted to shower alone, but if just one person is in here then how bad will it be. The thing is, it is hard to figure out which shower is in use. The sound bounces off the walls and the doors are solid. They are not transparent like a normal shower would be. The odds of him picking the only one with a body in it are slim but people walking around eating other people are slim odds too, and look how that turned out.

He walks over to the towel rack and picks up the thin, white towel. After this place, Daryl decides that he never wants to see the color white again. With towel in hand, he walks up to a shower. Praying that no one is in it, he opens the door. His prayers are not answered. Well, not exactly. What he sees in front of him makes him freeze. He knows he should close the door and give her some privacy, but the marks on the girl's legs and lower back stop him.

Her back looks an awful lot like his. The scars look deep and painful. His first thought is _how?_ How could someone hurt someone this small? Her attacker must have been larger, and left handed. The way the scars are facing say that. She has one long scar that looks like it wraps around her body, to her stomach, though he cannot tell for sure. Her long brown hair covers most of her back. The wavy strands are in the way of a full view of her scars. She must have been in an abusive relationship, or just abused at home. Whatever the reason, he doesn't care to know.

The fact that he is standing here looking at the girl's scars and not her body, surprises him. He takes a second to drink in the naked form in front of him. She is small, almost too small. He can see her bones starting to show, her ribs almost prominent. As small as she is, her height doesn't help. She reaches _maybe _five feet. She could be a little bit taller, but with Daryl reaching almost six foot, she has to be about foot shorter than him. Seeing her naked really shows how skinny she really is. In her clothes she looks to have meat on her body, but Daryl learns the truth.

She must not be eating enough. None of them are, but she seems to be doing worse than everyone else. Daryl could be wrong but he is not walking in on everybody else just to find out. He realizes he is staring and that she might turn around soon. If she hasn't felt the draft yet, she will now. Slowly and quietly, he shuts the door and jumps in a shower three spaces over.

The water rolling down his dirt covered body feels better than he imagined. He can feel the grime of the past two months slowly slide off. The floor below his feet is caked in mud, blood and whatever else he has collected over the past while. He keeps his shower short. As much as he enjoys it, he wants to get out before Mae notices he is in the room with her.

As he steps out, he sees that the door to the shower Mae had previously been in is open. He curses himself and grabs his towel. She must know now, but maybe she doesn't know who is in the showers. The air hits his bare chest and gives him goosebumps. Daryl slides his hands up and down his arms to get rid of them, but is unsuccessful. He quickly looks in the mirror. He has more scratches on his face than the last time he looked in the mirror. There are bags under his eyes from lack of sleep, and bruises from the woods and some attacks. Overall he still looks like the same Daryl he used to see. Scoffing, he turns and leaves the shower room.

The walk from the showers and his room is a short one. It takes him all of thirty seconds to get from A to B. With a towel around his waist, and only a towel, he decides it is best if he puts some clothes on. Not that he thinks anyone will care, or even notice, he feels kind of uncomfortable. Changing at record speed, he throws his dirty clothes in his bag. Laying on an actual bed feels great. His back cracks from the way he is laying. He stretches out, taking up any, and all room on his bed.

The buzz everyone else was feeling from dinner never hit Daryl. He is used to hard liqueur. And lots of it. He takes a swing of the full bottle of red wine in his hand. Not before long, half of the bottle is gone. With half a bottle from dinner, and half a bottle now in his system, Daryl is feeling good. He can call it a night, and go to bed, but where's the fun in that? He takes another sip of the wine and closes his eyes.

A soft rap at the door wakes him up. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, it just happened. He looks around for the time, but as before, the walls are bare. There is no sign of a clock anywhere in the room. Had he slept though the night? The knocking comes again, but this time the door creaks open. Daryl sits up quickly which causes his drunken head to spin.

"I didn't know you were sleeping, I'm sorry." A silky voice comes from the doorway. Her accent makes him want to hear her speak more. It must be the alcohol talking because he tells her to come in.

"No, I wasn't- what time is it?" He tries his best to keep his words clean. She seems too pure to hear him string curses together, and to good to hear his words slurred. She stands awkwardly in the doorway, almost as if scared to come in.

"I think around one thirty, I could be wrong though. No watch or clocks around." A nervous laugh escapes her lips. Her eyes go to the floor and stay there. Her necklace is between her fingers, Daryl thinks it is an absent minded thing she does.

"Come in, I don't care." Her eyes shoot to his. Daryl sees new confidence, and it looks good on her. A smirk graces her lips and the hands drop to her hips.

"Are you going to be nice to me now that you have seen me naked?" The blood leaves his face. His mouth opens and closes like a fish, and he just stares at her. He doesn't know how to react, he doesn't know what to say. _How did she know?_

"Mon dieu! I know you didn't come in on purpose. Beside, you left before it got creepy." A slight smile spread across her face. The alcohol made Daryl smile as well.

"Mom due? What is that?" A laugh comes from her belly. An actual laugh, not a nervous giggle, or a chuckle, but a laugh. Her eyes crinkle in the corners and her white teeth flash before him. He has never seen a smile so contagious. The corners of his mouth lift slightly, but he frowns when he realizes she is laughing at him.

"No, not mom due, mon dieu."

"Still don't make sense." Her laughing calms to a smile. She walks over to Daryl hesitantly. Daryl sees that she wants to sit down on the bed, but he doesn't giver her the permission. He squints his eyes at her, forcing her to explain.

"It's french. It means 'my god.' I wasn't laughing at you." All laughter leaves her face and she steps back. He stands and hands the bottle of wine to her. Her brow furrows and she shakes her head. Daryl nods and sits back down, unsure of why he stood up in the first place.

"Sit." He puts the bottle on the table next to the bed. When he feels the mattress dip next to him, he knows she listened. He turns to her. Her hands are back at her neck, jewelry in hand. Her eyes are on the floor, and her body tense.

"You said something to Jim. What was it?"

"Ce n'est pas un adieu, mon ami, mais d'une simple separation." She mumbles to herself. She looks to be in thought, but Daryl doesn't care. She can't keep saying things he doesn't understand.

"Yeah, what does it mean? Can't you just speak English?" A mistake. Daryl makes a mistake. He is being to harsh with her, she's fragile, she shouldn't be roughed up. He sighs, but doesn't apologize. He's not drunk enough for that. Not yet.

* * *

"I'm sorry to offend you, that wasn't my intention. It means 'this is not goodbye, my friend, but a simple parting.' It must have been hard for him with everyone saying goodbye." Mae fumbles with her locket. Daryl is agitated, and is beginning to scare her. She never meant to laugh at him, but when he butchered the french she spoke, she couldn't help but laugh.

She smells the alcohol rolling off him. He reeks of wine. She wonders if he is drunk, she doubts it. Daryl seems like the type of person to drink often back at home, but going without alcohol for so long can do something, right? He might be able to get drunk a little quicker, right?

Under the alcohol is the scent of Daryl himself. Mae can smell the woods, and the trees. She smells security. She knows that he will forever smell like this.

"I speak in french sometimes because sometimes I don't want people knowing what I say. It sounds crazy but it's the truth. English is my first language but I used to live in France, so I had to learn the language. If you do not like me speaking it, I will not." She watches as Daryl meets her eyes. He looks confused, his eyes squinted, and brow furrowed. She looks back down to the ground. It was a bad idea to come here and talk to him. The two are so different, they will only clash.

"No, you can speak whatever damn language you want. I don't like not knowing what you're saying, is all." She smiles at the man beside her. He is older than her. She noticed this before, but he doesn't seem to act his age. Not that he is immature, but that he has a childish charm that can be easily over looked.

"How old are you?" She asks it before she realizes. Her eyes go wide and she slaps her hand over her mouth. He surprises her by answering.

"Thirty three. You look Glenn's age, so like, twenty?"

"Oh, no. Twenty six. Not that that is much of a difference." She watches as Daryl picks up the bottle of wine and take a long drink from it. On his arm she sees a bruise, almost in the shape of fingers. Without realizing it, she reaches out and grabs his arm. She feels him go rigid, but doesn't say anything. She places her finger over the marks and pulls away quickly. Her eyes search his. Her mouth is open and she feels like she is about to cry.

"Oh, my. Oh. I am so sorry. This is from me, isn't it? Isn't it?" Daryl nods slowly. Mae stands up and paces. He was helping her back in the 'grave yard,' and all she did was bruise him. Her hands go to her head, and she keeps repeating the word sorry. She hadn't meant to do this, she figures it doesn't hurt him much, but the fact that she left a mark on him was enough for her.

She feels Daryl's eyes on her. She feels them watch her pace from one end of the room to the other. He doesn't say anything, just watches her. She tries to calm herself down by stopping and taking deep breaths. This may not seem like a big deal to him, but she knows what it is like having marks of pain left by others.

"Daryl, I-" She stops mid sentence. She walks over to the bed side table and picks up the bottle of wine. She feels terrible, and has never been drunk. Maybe if she gets drunk she won't feel so bad. She won't be able to figure it out because the bottle is snatched out of her hands. Daryl stands in front of her with the bottle at his side. He shakes his head and gently pushes her to sit on the bed.

"Daryl, I never meant to hurt you. I must sound insane, but-"

* * *

"It's fine. It don't hurt." This seems to calm the stressed girl. He understands her guilt and won't hold it against her. He knows he is acting out of character, but with the alcohol buzzing his head, and the frantic girl next to him, it is hard not to. If he says or does anything un-Daryl like, he can just blame it on the alcohol tomorrow morning. When she looks up at him, there are tears in her eyes.

"Thank you. I came in here to thank you for saving me. The night the camp got overrun, you saved me. Not once, but twice. And earlier tonight, no please, let me thank you. You have done so much for me, and you never even asked me my name, or said anything to me. You saved me, and I will try my best to repay you." Daryl looks away, drunk or not, he hates emotional women. Doesn't she know he didn't save her on purpose? He just killed the walkers about to attack someone who just happened to be her.

Okay, that is a weak argument, but he had to do something! She was nice to him, without him doing anything for her! He hears her sniffle and in his peripheral vision he sees her reach up and wipe tears away. Daryl doesn't dare look up at her. He puts on to be this heartless bastard, and sometimes he truly is, but he cannot stand to watch a woman cry.

"Merci, Daryl. Vous etes un homme bon. Vous avez une grande bonte dans ton coeur, meme si vous voulez cacher." At these words he looks up. They just had a conversation about using that damn language. With her eyes locked with his, she smiles.

"Thank you, Daryl. You are a good man. You have a great kindness in your heart, even if you want to hide it." She lifts off the bed and gets closer to him. He freezes. He is not afraid of women, but he has no idea what this one is about to do. She closes her eyes and kisses his cheek. It is light, and barely there, but Daryl feels it. "I know it is there."

As she pulls away, he sees her face turn red. She's blushing after something she did! Unbelievable! She turn to leave but Daryl, knowing this isn't the alcohol, grabs her arm. She turns back to him, surprised.

"Don't try to do anything for me. You get hurt saving me, they won't forgive me."

"They don't like me very much. They might care more about you." She whispers. Her voice is like heaven. If he could, he would listen to her speak for hours.

Her eyes hold only truth, and Daryl realizes she didn't come in here just to thank him. She came in here to befriend him. Her eyes are lined with trust for him, and he doesn't know why. He should stop her before anything else forms.

"Don't trust me."

"I don't-"

"You do. You can't. I ain't gonna save you all the time. You ain't mine to look after." He watches as her eyes fall to his chest. She nods and turns away. Her feet are light, as they pad across the floor. With her hand on the door frame, she turns to Daryl.

"Thank you again." She looks like she is about to say something more, but she doesn't. She leaves, closing the door behind her.

Taking advantage of her would have been easy. He is drunk, and she is naive. He could have easily had sex with her, and tossed her out, but those grey eyes of hers stopped him. Why? If it had been any other girl, he would have taken the chance after two months of nothing.

God knows he is feeling antsy from lack of sex, but she is part of the group, and as much as he would love to have sex with her, she's most likely a virgin. That kind of responsibility Daryl cannot deal with. Seeing her naked only made him realize how long it actually has been since the last time he has a good tumble in the sheets.

He sits back on his bed and skips finishing the wine. He lays his head on the thin pillow and falls asleep fast.

* * *

She doesn't expect anything from Daryl. She doesn't expect him to be kind to her, or save her every time she is in trouble. She doesn't expect him to do anything for her. She expects him to look out for himself, and do what he needs to do to save his own life.

With her back against Daryl's door, she takes a deep breath. Tomorrow starts a new day, and that means she can get the group to accept her. She will work her butt off for this group to welcome her, and call her one of their own. Her life depends on it, and she couldn't think of a better group to be apart of.

Dealing with Daryl can wait until never. If he doesn't want anyone attempting to get to know him, and keep him company, then fine. She will not stress over making him happy. She still feels terrible but thinking back it wasn't her fault. Fear gripped her tight, and wouldn't let go. She held on to Daryl with the same force, trusting him to at least care enough to warn her of any danger.

She walks to the room Glenn is sleeping in. When she left to find Daryl, she put a drunken Glenn to sleep. When she walks into the room, he is right where she has left him. Still on his stomach and still drooling. At least she has Glenn. She is not completely alone.

Tomorrow holds the future. Tomorrow, anything could happen. Tomorrow, she will begin her mission of getting the group to see who she really is. She also makes the decision of toughening up. All of this weak little girl stuff has got to go. She needs to be able to defend herself. She knows she can, it just felt good having someone else look out for her.

Curling up next to Glenn, she doesn't find sleep right away. Maybe if she drank, she would have but right now her mind is wired. Millions of thoughts run this way and that. Thoughts of her life now, thoughts of her family, thoughts of the walkers, and thoughts of Daryl. Okay, so maybe not millions, but enough to keep her awake.

Sleep eventually finds her, but not before a knock on the door. Sleep holding on tight to the small girl, she can't stop it. Her dreams are full of Daryl, walkers, her drunk group and death.

* * *

**Here is a little preview of next chapter! Enjoy!**

_**"If you don't stand up, I will carry you out of here. Then we both die, because I'm sure as hell not making it out of here carrying you." His voice comes out as a growl and sends shivers of fear down her back. Her grey eyes stare into his, and she sees he is not ready to die. **_

_**Exhaling, she gets to her feet. Her wrist has a hand gripping tightly around it, and if she thinks for one second that he is going to let go, she will be proved wrong in the next moments ahead.**_


	6. A Stubborn Bastard

Mae is awaken by a hungover, groaning, Asian boy. She had very little wine in her system, so there will be no hangover for Mae. Glenn on the other hand, has his face between his legs, and is making horribly ugly noises. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she sits up and rubs the poor boy's back. This must be hard for him, but he was the one who chose to drink last night. Mae hadn't thought about the group being drunk until just now. What if they had to leave in the middle of the night? Glenn was wasted, Rick was sure tipsy, and she knew Daryl had more than a whole bottle to himself. If, for any reason, they needed to get back on the road, how would they have fared. Definitely not well, and they might have even gone down giggling.

"Glenn, go to the bathroom and wash up. The cool water will help your head a bit." Smiling to her, the boy listens. He slowly rises to his feet and pads out the door. Mae lays back down against the makeshift bed, but not for long. A light knock at the door has her on her feet in seconds. When she opens the door she finds two small beings in front of her. Smiling down at the children, she kneels in front of them.

"Good morning, you two. How did you sleep?"

"Mom said to come and get you and Glenn. Breakfast is ready! Are you hungover?" Mae's eyes go wide at Carl's question. Her smile quickly returns as she shakes her head.

"No, I am not drunk. I didn't have much to drink last night. I had about as much as you, Carl."

"But all the grown ups are hungover." Sophia's small voice pipes up. Her eyes hold confusion, and her mouth is poised to ask more questions.

"Yes, but _I_ am not. Just because everybody else is doing something, doesn't mean you have to, as well." Mae places her hands on the two children's backs and walks them to the cafeteria. They speak to her with much enthusiasm; something she has missed. She missed kid's wild stories about how aliens will some day take over the world, and how cookies are the worlds only food source. If only.

When they reach the rest of the group, Mae notices not everyone is here. Only Dale, Andrea, Glenn, Lori and Rick sit at the table. Glenn must have skipped the bathroom and come straight down here. T- Dog is behind the counter fumbling with something. Carl runs forward and sits next to his mother. Sophia stands next to Mae, waiting for her own mother. Mae has been wondering how Sophia is coping with the loss of her father. She hasn't had the heart to ask the small child. Mae makes a note in her mind to ask Carol how she and Sophia are doing.

T-Dog walks in with a skillet and what looks to be scrambled eggs.

"Eggs! Powdered, but I do 'em good." He says smiling. Mae grabs a plate from the table and scoops a small pile of eggs, bacon and toast on to it. She watches as Jacqui puts her hands on Glenn's shoulders and asks him if he is okay. He replies with a moan and thats about it. T-Dog adds his eggs to Glenn's plate, claiming that protein helps the hangover. Once again, there is a groan, but this time he speaks actual words.

"Don't ever, ever, ever let me drink again. Mae, this is entirely your fault." She laughs along with everyone else and tells him to take some aspirin. Just after this, Shane and Carol walk into the room. Rick and Shane exchange a hey, and go about their business.

Mae's attention goes straight to the man who walks into the room next. Not looking half as disheveled as the rest of her group, Daryl makes himself a plate and walks to the counter, where he perches himself on top. She hears the rest of the group but is wondering why Daryl can't seem to look at her. If he had been drunk last night, then he wouldn't remember what happened, but if he wasn't...

"Daryl?" He continues eating his breakfast, and when he is done he leaves. Not one word to her, not one glance. She just raises her eyebrows and watches his back as he makes his exit. When her attention is back on the group, a new member has joined. Jenner.

There are little words exchanged between Jenner, Dale and Andrea, then the group is following Jenner to the big room with all the computers. Daryl isn't gone for very long, because when the group enters the large room, he is with them. The screen come on before everyone. Showing what looks to be a brain. Vi says something back to Jenner but Mae isn't interested. What she is interested in is the man standing on the opposite side of the room to her. She shoots him a questioning look, which he returns with a scowl.

Rolling her eyes, and not wanting to try and solve the puzzle that is Daryl Dixon, she pays attention to Jenner and the screen.

"What are those lights?" Shane asks the doctor with genuine curiosity.

"It's a person's life. Experiences, memories, its everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, in all those ripples of life is you." He points to Mae. Her eyes go back to the brain on the screen. She has seen enough brains in her line of work, she is waiting for him to move on. She knows he has to explain all of this to the rest of the group, but seeing the picture on the screen makes her think of the past. Of a time when not all was lost, a time when she was happy, and surrounded by her friends and family. The image makes her homesick, but there is nothing that can be done about it now.

"It don't make sense? Ever?" Daryl, standing with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face, asks.

"It wouldn't, would it? Think about all of the thoughts and feelings you have. Think about the knowledge you have accumulated over the years. If your brain were a filing cabinet, you'd eventually give up on keeping it neat, with all the data needing to be stored away. Your brain is a mess, but everything has its place. It multitasks, from telling your heart to beat and lungs to breathe, to making your hands pick up a pencil and write down notes." As she speaks, she blushes. Daryl watches her lips, not her eyes, when she explains the complexity of the brain in simpler terms to him. Understanding reveals its self in the man's face, and all Mae can do is look away and smile. Jenner, of course, explains the scientific version.

"This person died? Who?" Andrea, looking grave, steps forward.

"Test subject 19. Someone who was bitten, and infected. And they volunteered to have us record the process." The pain in Jenner's voice is apparent. Mae can tell by the look on his face, that test subject 19 was someone important to him, not just a random person.

The screen changes from the inside of the brain to a full view of the person's head. The brain is different this time. It has dark spots on the stem and is branching out into the rest of the brain. Mae figures out what happens when people get infect before it is even explained.

"What is that?"

"It invades the brain li-"

"Like meningitis." Jenner, and the whole group, turn to Mae.

"Are you a doctor?" Mae is surprised and almost doesn't answer. Her hand goes to her locket and she looks at the floor.

"No, no. I'm, or, I was a nurse. I was studying to become an interventional radiologist. I didn't finish school, but I picked up on a few words." A shy smile forms on her lips. Jenner looks impressed but continues on.

* * *

"The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs." As soon as Jenner stop speaking, the brain on the screen goes black. Mae's hands stay playing with her locket, but her eyes never leave the screen.

None of this doctor shit makes sense to Daryl, but as he watches the brain, he can figure out what doctor a and doctor b are saying. As of right now, the brain is black, which means the person is dead. His eyes drift to Mae. He has tried to ignore her this morning, but apparently it is not working. She, he knows, purposely answered his question to Jenner just to get him to look at her. Making friendships and other bonds are not what Daryl wants to do. All he wants is to find his brother and survive this new world.

"Then death. Anything you were or ever will be...gone." Jenner is one morbid bastard. All he had to say was the infection shuts off the brain and then you die. Simple and easy to understand. Mae looks over her shoulder to Glenn, and not to Daryl's surprise, he looking at her. The kid never keeps his eyes off her. His face shows no sign of comfort which is strange to Daryl. He watches as Mae takes a deep breath and looks to the ground. She doesn't stay still, though.

Daryl's eyes follow the small girl as she makes her way to the back of the room. Her hands fiddle with her necklace, and he is tempted to follow her. He resists this temptation and keeps his feet planted to the floor below him. With his eyes now on the screen, he notices the black brain has red pieces to it. The red lights move throughout a small portion on the brain. It looks nothing like the brain from the beginning of this little presentation, and yet the head is moving. The person is obviously alive, but the brain is different. Lori notices this too, and voices her concern.

"It restarts the brain?"

"No," Jenner replies, "just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving."

"But they're not alive?" Rick comes forward and asks his question. Jenner doesn't answer the question, he just points to the screen and says "you tell me." Rick shakes his head, and gives his answer.

"It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark." Jenner answers with a morbid, and Jenner like answer.

"Dark, lifeless, dead. The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part- that doesn't come back. The you part. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct."

As Daryl watches, a bright flash goes across the monitor. There is a tunnel going through the head, and it stops the moving. A bullet. He shot his patient. He was at least smart about taking care of the fresh walker. When Andrea voices Daryl's thoughts, Jenner confirms them. The doctor tells VI to shut down the main screen and turns to the group.

Daryl isn't sure of how to take the information that his brain has just taken in. He thinks of what Mae said about the filing cabinet. He tries to make sense of the thoughts running through his head. He tries to file the doctor's words under "Things to never think of again." He files the encounter of last night under "Things to never bring up again." Then, he files the image of Mae's bare back under "Things to investigate." Although he doesn't like getting involved with things that do not concern him, her back has him asking questions.

His eyes find Mae across the room. Her head is in the direction of the door, and her face looks to be in thought. For someone who doesn't care to get involved with other people, Daryl finds himself wanting to know what she is thinking. Her hands are still wrapped around that damn necklace. Her whole body is still, not one part moving, and that's when Daryl realizes that she is listening to everything everyone is saying.

Daryl turns his attention to Andrea spewing questions and accusations at Jenner, and Jenner just taking it. It is too much for Daryl. The knowledge of there being pretty much no hope of escaping those abominations outside is just too much. Running his hands through his hair and leaning on a computer, he states his current want.

"Man, I'm gonna get shit-faced drunk...again."

"Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you," The old man says, "and I hate to ask one more question, but... that clock – it's counting down. What happens at zero?" This makes Daryl lift his head up and look at where Dale is pointing. The clock reads 1:00:01, which means it is counting down from an hour. The old man is right to put a concern in the ticking clock. A small voice comes from the corner of the room. Daryl turns to Mae and listens. He notices no one else minds her any attention, their focus is on Jenner.

"The place shuts down in one hour. Puis nous mourrons." Her eyes meet his and he looks at her with the expectation of a translation. She notices him looking at her, but doesn't move. She actually turns away from him and walks closer to the exit. _She's a difficult one._

"Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" Rick's no nonsense voice booms over the group. VI, like the smart computer she is, actually answers him. Jenner has this habit of avoiding questions, and not subtly might Daryl add.

"When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur." Daryl looks for Mae, she seems to know what's going on. He finds her sitting on the floor, with her head resting on her knees. Her hands are wrapped around her legs but she doesn't look to be crying. Daryl kneels down to her level and speaks in a low, soft voice.

"What did you say before? You spoke that other language." Her head doesn't even lift up. She doesn't look at him as she says her grim words.

"The place shuts down in one hour. Puis nous mourrons. The french is "then we die."" She takes a deep breath and grabs his hand. This is when she lifts her head, and when she does Daryl wishes she hadn't.

"The night you killed that walker that was about to bite me," her voice low and shaky, "you saved my life, and if you hadn't come, I would have died. I gave up, you know. I was going to let him bite me." Her eyes look to his lips. He watches her bit her lip in what looks like an attempt to hold back tears. In the corner of his eye he sees Rick, Shane, Glenn and T-Dog run by. Glenn pauses and looks down at the couple but doesn't stay for long.

"What if we all just stayed here? The suffering will be over, and we wouldn't have to live in this world anymore. I thought about this when that walker had me. Daryl," her eyes search his, "when that clock reaches zero, this whole place is going to destroy itself. By burning, blowing up, or possibly just collapsing in. I think staying is an option, and I think it is better than living a life out in hell." Her hand squeezes his wrist tightly. He doesn't think she knows, but she will leave a bruise, not that he has fragile skin, but her grip is so tight.

* * *

Daryl stands, but doesn't leave her side. She has to be lying. There is no way that the whole building will just blow up. Maybe she doesn't know much. Looking around the room, he notices everyone is leaving. Lori and Carl are already gone, Dale and Jacqui are just leaving and Carol and Sophia are right behind them. Daryl looks down at the ball of human at his feet. Rolling his eyes and huffing out a breath, he reaches down and lifts Mae to her feet. He turns and walks away, not looking back to see if she is following. She is not his to look after. She can take care of herself, the fact that he made her stand should be enough. He doesn't even know what made him reach out to her, but he did. It is almost like something in him switched on and now he actually cares. Cares about the people around him. He doesn't care enough to risk his life or worry about theirs but enough for them to notice

As she watches Daryl leave, she notices that he doesn't walk quickly. She wonders if he is waiting for her to follow or not, but decides it is best if she doesn't make assumptions about him. She could be reading him completely wrong, and he may not even care about what she just said, and he may not have even been listening. Mae is a great expression reader. She can tell what people are thinking rather quickly. When she explained to him about the CDC shutting itself down, he didn't believe her.

She has made the decision to stay at the CDC when the clock hits zero. If what Jenner said is true, then there is nothing out there. There is nothing but walkers, and fear. How can she make a life for herself and those around her if at any second they will have to up and move?

She is about to take a step to follow the harsh man, but stops. What is she going to do, follow him? Daryl doesn't seem to want anything to do with her. Any time she looks at him, he scowls back at her. When she speaks to him, he seems to ignore anything she says. Trying to pull the heart out of him has proven difficult, but after the hour is up, she will not have to deal with him anymore.

Instead of following the rest of the group, Mae sits back down on the floor. Jenner doesn't notice because he leaves the room, powering down all and any lights. Mae doesn't say anything, she just rests her head on her knees and waits for time to run out.

She suspects it is about a little less than a half an hour when she hears a commotion coming towards her. She has sat right where she is for the past half hour, without moving. The bottom half of her body is numb, and her head hurts from the silence. The darkness has become her friend over the past couple of months. She likes to travel in the dark, since one major sense the walkers use to hunt the living is sight, taking sight away from them is an advantage. The only problem with that is with darkness the survivors sense of sight is impaired as well.

She hears Daryl's voice before she hears anyone else. He doesn't sound happy, but then again, she hasn't heard him sound happy, the many times she has heard him speak. She doesn't lift her head, she just listens.

"Hey! Hey, what the hell does that mean?" She cringes at his curse, he must know there are children around. "Hey, man, I'm talking to you. What do you mean it's shutting itself down?" She sighs at his words. She was right when she said the whole building will destroy itself. It's only a matter of time now. Within the next thirty minutes, this building will no longer exist.

The sound of four sets of feet running signal Rick, Glenn, Shane and T-Dog's return. The sound of feet coming down the set of stairs directly in front of Mae signal everyone else's return. She tries to bury her head deeper into her arms as she listens to the exchange of her fellow survivors.

"Rick?" Lori is the first to speak. Her voice seems to be panicked, and Mae knows she doesn't plan on staying when the building collapses. That brings her mind to who _will _stay. Surely not Rick or his family, not Daryl, or Glenn. Maybe Andrea, and Carol? But then again Carol has Sophia. It's a coin toss really.

Not long after she hears Rick and Jenner talk with one another she feels a shoe gently collide with her legs. Not having a choice in the matter, she looks up. She is met with a pair of brown eyes. She smiles slightly at Glenn but nothing more. She doesn't attempt to stand or speak, she just lightly smiles.

"Have you been here the whole time? Do you know what is happening?" When she doesn't answer, he holds out his hands to lift her up. She doesn't refuse the help, though she doesn't know whether or not her legs will hold her. Glenn must notice because his arm is around her waist in a matter of seconds. They both hobble over to the rest of the group.

The conversation is on who held out the longest, who tried to survive the longest before just giving up.

"What happened?" Jacqui's soft voice floats through the group. Jenner, the positive person that he is, answers in his cheery voice.

* * *

"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice." He takes dramatic pauses, maybe for effect, or to find his words. Either way it is irritating. Glenn leaves Mae's side, but the presence of a person beside her doesn't go away. She barely has time to look to see who it is, before that person speaks.

"How do you know 'bout the buildin'?"

"This place is designed to protect the information it holds from undesirable people, I'm sure Jenner will explain." Daryl doesn't comment on the words that seem like venom coming from her mouth. Here he thought they might be safe for a few days but apparently that is not the case. Mae clarified that up for him.

He looks to Rick in hopes he has figured something out, something that could save them. Now, Daryl doesn't want to depend on anyone, but if he were in this situation alone, he would have killed Jenner by now, and what good would that have done him? No, he is going to let Rick handle this one. There is an out burst from Shane, and an order from Rick. He tells everyone to get their stuff, and that they are leaving. Daryl looks down at Mae to find her blankly staring ahead playing with her locket. For some reason, he refuses to leave her side. He thinks back to what she had said earlier._"I think staying is an option, and I think it is better than living a life out in hell."_

She plans to stay here when time runs out. She plans on dying right where she is standing, not giving a fight or anything. Just stand there and wait for her end. Why is she so ready to give up? Why end it all when she has made it this far?

Daryl just squints down at her, about to say something, when she jumps to the of an alarm. The screen in front of everyone flashes on and a counter pops up. It reads 30:00:00, which means the group has exactly a half an hour to haul ass out of the CDC if they want a chance to continue living.

"Doc, what's goin' on here, now?" Shane's voice can heard over the chatter of the group and the loud alarm. "Everybody, ya'll heard Rick! Get your stuff and let's go! Now!" The alarms stop and everyone scatters to the door. Daryl walks around Mae just as a steel door closes locking them in. The entire group is now trapped in this room with a psychotic doctor. Rick runs toward the door, in a small attempt to keep it open. When the sound of the door closing booms, everyone freezes. None of them can believe what is happening. What the fuck is wrong with this guy? Does he plan on keeping everybody hostage? What does he gain by killing everybody around him?

Daryl tries to stay calm, he really does. The girl standing next to him, unsurprisingly, doesn't react to what Jenner is doing. She just stands there and plays with her locket. Daryl feels the need to rip that damn thing off of her neck and get a reaction out of her. For such a insignificant person, Mae has this way of pissing Daryl off to no end, and the best part is, she doesn't even have to do anything.

Seeming to sense his glare, she looks up at him. She has no smile on her face, not laughter in her eyes, no affection beaming off of her like she usually does. Daryl has noticed, in the time he has known her, granted that hasn't been long, she cares about the people around her no matter how they treat her. Something tells him that she would do just about anything to help another person, even if they are less than friendly to her. None of that kindness is coming from her now. She might as well be a walker for all the emotion she is giving. She puts her back against the computer desk and slides to the floor, seeming to give up.

"He just locked us in!" Daryl's attention goes back to the situation at hand when Glenn screams. Wasting no time, Daryl leaves Mae's side, much to his body's displeasure, and goes after Jenner. He should have expected the guys to hold him back, but steam could have been coming out of his ears. He grabs Jenner's collar, but that's all the damage he can do before Shane and T-Dog grab him. All he had to hear was one of the kids' voices and he sprang into action. The fear behind their words is something Daryl can't stand. He may be a bastard, but kids are sort of his weakness. Although he is awkward around them, and wants nothing to do with them, he will help save them no matter the cost.

Rick finally steps in.

"Jenner, open that door, now." His calm voice, trying not to break. Jenner, of course, doesn't give up. He tells the group leader that there is no point, that it is out of his control.

"Well, open the damn things!" The old man yells. Now, Daryl has a short fuse, and pretty much anything can set him off, but he is trying his best to hold himself together. Best not commit murder in front of a bunch of people, it could ruin the image he is going for. Besides, Jenner likes to plays games.

"That's not something I control, the computers do." He plans on making everyone in the room die along side of him. If he has been this suicidal for a while, why the hell hasn't he_ opted _out yet? This could have saved the group a lot of time and trouble.

When Rick asks Jenner what happens in twenty eight minutes, Daryl's eyes search for Mae. She is still seated on the floor, but this time her head is up. She seems to have been watching him the whole time. She matches his gaze, and it does not waver. Her eyes stay on him, almost expecting him to speak.

He is not surprised when the doctor doesn't answer Rick's question, in fact he kind of expects it. With this guy, it's like pulling teeth. Except this tooth is a cavity and need to be extracted from the mouth.

Shane and Rick get Jenner talking by force. They pretty much _woke the dragon_ in doing so. Jenner stands and starts screaming.

"Do you know what this place is? We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox! Ebloa strains that could wipe out half the country. Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!" No one speaks after he stops. No one moves after he stops. Daryl doesn't think anyone knows what to say. All Daryl knows is that Mae is right, and this place will destroy itself.

He feels a hand slip around his arm. He knows the hand by now. It is small, cold, and the grip doesn't let up. Why she has chosen him to latch on to is beyond him, but he accepts it for the time being. He doesn't try to comfort her in anyway, he just lets her stay where she is and hold on to him. He doesn't look down at her, and she doesn't look up at him. It's a mutual understanding. They will tolerate each other.

When Jenner sits down, the group takes the moment to breathe. It doesn't take long for the asshole to start speaking again.

"In the event of a catastrophic power failure – in a terrorist attack, for example – HITs are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."

"HITs?" HITs? What the fuck is a HIT? Daryl hates this shit. Jenner needs to explain what is happening in a way that everyone else can understand. He probably doesn't want to repeat himself over and over again, so why doesn't he just make it easier and explain it right the first time.

The hand on his arm starts trembling, as does the body it is attached too. Daryl sneaks a peak down at Mae, and shakes his head. She seeks him, out of all the people in the group, she seeks him for comfort. Why? He's not going to do anything to help her. He told her last night _not_ to trust him, that she is not his to look after. Did all of that do in one ear and out the other?

Jenner tells Vi to define what an HIT is and not to Daryl's surprise, she explains exactly what Mae explained to him before. Well, in greater words, but Mae's explanation was a lot more to the point. He looks around the room studying everyone's reactions, because like it or not, this is his group and he has to try and protect it. The women and children begin to cry and hug each other. The men run their hands down their faces in disbelief. Mae's grip becomes a bit tighter, and her shaking intensifies.

Growling, he rips his hand away from Mae and storms over to the steel door. Taking the alcohol bottle and throwing it against the door, he yells at Jenner.

"Open the damn door!" Shane runs past him with an axe and begins to pound at the object blocking their freedom. T-Dog throws Daryl and axe too, and he goes at the door. Sadly, all that happens is Daryl and Shane lose energy, and the axes only create sparks. But does that stop the men? No, it doesn't. They have a group to save and they will try anything to do that.

He stops for a second, to look back at said group. The women and children sit on the floor, hugging one another, as Jenner speaks to them. He is going at it with Lori, and she must be making a pretty good case if Jenner isn't responding quickly. He focuses on Mae, just long enough to note where she is and how she is doing. His attention doesn't stay on her long because he begins hacking at the door as soon as he sees her.

Rick tells the guys to let him have a go at it, as well as T-Dog, but Daryl doesn't give up his weapon. He continues hacking away. Rick hands T-Dog the axe Shane handed over, and walks away. He must do something about Jenner. The douche bag can't keep them here against their will. If they want to go back out into the world full of the dead then they should be able to.

Beginning to get tired, Daryl walks over to the group. Jenner is telling Shane and Rick that the door is designed to with stand a rocket launcher, and that the axes won't do anything. This, of course, infuriates Daryl more, and he goes at Jenner with the axe.

"Yeah, well your head ain't." Just once, he wishes the group would let him do something drastic, like kill the doctor. It takes Rick, Dale, and T-Dog to stop him, and throw Daryl back. T-dog takes the axe away from him, so he just paces to blow off some steam.

He notices Mae watching him. Running his hand down his face he stops, and stands by her. She just leans against the computer desk and closes her eyes. Daryl doesn't want to stay still but he has no choice. What more can he do? He can scream at Jenner all he wants, but that won't do any good. He can kill the doctor, but that won't bring them any closer to getting out of this place. So, he just stands by Mae, and listens to the conversation between Jenner, Rick and Shane.

"What? You really said that? After all your big talk?" says Shane.

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?" Rick defends himself.

"There is no hope," God, help him now. Daryl balls his hands in fists to keep himself still. "There never was."

"There's always hope. Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here," _Yeah, obviously not here, if the place is going to explode any minute. _"But somebody, somewhere –"

"What part of "everything is gone," do you not understand?" He hears Mae scoff, but doesn't look down at her.

"Listen to your friend. She gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event." He feels Mae lean against his leg. When he looks down at her he sighs. _Nothin' worse than a clingy woman_. He kneels down to her level, but she stops leaning on him. She sits up straight, almost nervous that he is so near to her. They listen to Carol tell Jenner that this whole thing isn't fair and that they don't deserve to die this way. Jenner spews off that it is more compassionate, or some shit, like this.

He truly believes that what he is doing is right, that everyone in the room should just accept their on coming death. As he rambles, Shane takes action. The cocking of a gun is heard, and then Rick yelling. Shane comes around the corner, cocked and loaded, on his mission to kill Jenner.

Mae covers her mouth with her hand and grabs Daryl. Once again, he doesn't stop her. Very slightly, but enough for him to notice, she inches closer to him. She isn't all over him, but she is closer than she should be. For some reason, Daryl can't seem to force her away.

Everyone in Shane's path scurry out of the way, not wanting to be in the crossfire. Rick keeps yelling to his partner, but Shane refuses to listen. Jenner just sits there, like there is nothing wrong, the balls this man has. He sits, the barrel of a shot gun in his face, and he doesn't even flinch. Shane yells at the man, but he doesn't do a thing. He should be fighting for his life, but maybe he knows Shane won't kill him. Maybe, he knows Shane can't kill him, because he is the only way the group is getting out of this place alive.

Instead, Shane turns off to the side and fires. That's when everyone ducks, and shields themselves. Mae covers her head, and Daryl follows. She turns toward him, and he throws his arm around her. Sparks and pieces of electronics fly over them, some even landing on the pair. One of the computer pieces lands on Mae's arm and Daryl can _hear_ the searing of her skin. Thinking quickly, he brushes the hot piece of metal off of her, and covers the burn.

Rick fights Shane for the gun and that is when both Mae and Daryl are showered in sparks. Luckily none of them start any trouble, just land harmlessly on the two. Mae pulls her arm away from Daryl, and tends to the wound. It doesn't look bad, but they both know she needs to cover it up. An open wound now a days is nothing but trouble.

Daryl stands up and walks over to one of the axes. He picks it up, but doesn't do anything just yet. Throwing the tool at Jenner's head is what he wants to do, but that will do no good. So he does the next best thing. He goes to town on the door again. He hears bits and pieces of Rick and Jenner's conversation. They pretty much get nowhere for a while, but Rick is a persistent man. He keeps talking. Maybe he can do it. Maybe Rick can talk Jenner into letting them go.

He looks to see how much progress he is making, since his pounding on the door makes it hard for him to hear the conversation between the two men. He sees Glenn leaning over Mae, probably checking her wound. That doesn't surprise Daryl. Glenn will always watch over her, at least Daryl doesn't have that responsibility.

He goes back to the pounding. He knows, of course, that this will do nothing, but standing there and listening to two men argue, isn't much better. At least he is being productive, maybe not. Maybe he is just keeping himself busy, until that time comes. But then something he didn't think would happen happens. The door opens.

"Come on!" He yells back to the group. Glenn joins him in yelling. Carol and Sophia are close behind. When he looks back to make sure everyone is following, he notices that a few are going to stay. He doesn't judge them for the choices they are making but he doesn't think it is the choice for him. He is a survivor, and he doesn't give up.

He makes note that Jacqui and Andrea are staying behind. By the looks of Dale, he doesn't seem to be coming either, but there is someone who he sees that he wishes he doesn't.

Not her. She is _not_ staying here. Yes, he will accept everyone's choice, but he saved her twice and he won't let that go to waste. By the way she shook when Jenner was talking, he had a feeling that she didn't want to go like this. He had a feeling that she isn't ready to die.

Rolling his eyes, he runs down to her. Her head is on her knees, and she is shaking. _Yeah, she is definitely not ready to end her life. _

"Let's go." She looks up. Her grey eyes widen, and her lip quivers. She bites down on it hard, but he can tell she's about to break. A tear slips down her face and Daryl huffs.

"Get up, we don't have much time an –"

"Daryl, I'm not –"

"If you don't stand up, I will pick you up and,carry you out of here. Then we both die, because I'm sure as hell not making it out of here with you weighing me down." His voice comes out as a growl and sends shivers of fear down her back. Her grey eyes stare into his, and she sees he is not ready to die, either.

Exhaling, she gets to her feet. Her wrist has a hand gripping tightly around it, and if she thinks for one second that he is going to let go, she will be proved wrong in the next moments ahead. She looks towards the timer and they have about four and a half minutes to get their things and find a way out. The odds are slim, but right now she doesn't have a choice in the matter. His hand is wrapped so tightly around her wrist, she fears he will break it if he squeezes any tighter.

"Hey! We've got four minutes left! Come on!" Glenn screams to Rick, Lori and whoever else is dragging behind. They wait for Jacqui, but she tells the rest of them that she plans to stay and that it makes sense. Dale sees Andrea staying and he tells the rest of the group to go ahead without him. _The old man is stayin' behind for the girl, huh._

Grabbing their stuff doesn't take long. The entire time, he keeps his hand wrapped around the tiny wrist in his grasp. As they approach the exit, they realize that Jenner wasn't lying about not being able to open these doors. T-Dog tries the alarm pad but it doesn't work. He screams to the rest of the group to find another way.

This is when he drops her wrist. Shane calls him over to the window and throws him an axe. They start hacking at the glass, but it will not break, it won't even scratch. T-dog tells them to get back and goes at the window with a chair. Daryl wonders why he thought that would work, if two axes didn't. Even with this thought in his head, he watches T-Dog swing and grunt at the window.

Shane has a different idea, seeing as the chair and axes didn't work. He tells T-Dog to get down, as well as the others. With his shotgun in hand, he walks over to the unbreakable window. Everyone gets to the floor. They cover their ears, and when the gun goes off they panic. The glass won't break, which is stated by sweet Sophia, and the group becomes even more desperate than before.

Daryl sees Mae nod her head to Carol and practically push her ahead. Turns out, Carol has been holding on to a grenade that she found in Rick's pants when she washed them a few days ago. Rick takes it, and Glenn yells to everyone to look out. He also grabs a hold of Mae and pulls her to the ground, shielding her with his body. Daryl gets down too, not far from the couple.

Rick runs toward the others, but doesn't make it all the way to cover. He is sent flying through the air, but lands safely. The grenade did the trick. The damn glass is now broken and now they have their escape. Of course, with the loud explosion comes the herd of walkers. Daryl looks back to make sure everyone is following, and they all are. Each one hops out of the window. Rick and Shane stand at the bottom to make sure everyone gets out safe.

Glenn gets up to run, but Mae is slow to follow. She doesn't linger, but something is hurting her. Glenn turns around and yells for her to hurry and that they might not make it in time if she doesn't. Daryl can see that she is trying hard, but at this pace, Glenn is right, they wont make it.

"Glenn get out of here! Go!"

"But M –"

"I got her. Get out and help Rick and Shane!" The Asian pauses, looking back at his hurt friend, but listens to Daryl. He hops out the window and yells to Rick. Daryl glides up to the limping girl.

"I know you're hurt, but we gotta move. Just push through it, there's walkers out there." She nods to him, and starts to move a little faster. Watching her move, he can tell that her leg is what is bothering her. Daryl jumps out of the window first, turning back quickly to help Mae out. He reached up for her hands and practically catches her, before placing down gently. With her feet planted firmly on the ground, and the sound of the dead around them, she straightens up.

"If I start to slow you down just –"

"Let's go." Cutting her off, Daryl starts to fight his way to the cars. Mae follows closely behind, making sure not to stray too far. She watches as everyone else begins to kill walker, after walker. They are fairing pretty well, and Daryl turns around frequently to check up on her. _Pain in the ass this one._

Not before long they arrive at the cars. No one is bit, and everyone seems safe. Carol and Sophia hop into one with T-Dog, Rick and his family, along with Glenn pile into the RV, and Shane gets in his own car. Daryl notices Mae is once again slowing down, so he grabs her wrist and pulls her along. He brings them to the driver's side of his truck and opens the door. He all but lifts her into the vehicle, and gets in behind her.

They hear Rick scream for everybody to get down, to shield themselves. Being that his truck is far enough away, Daryl doesn't bother. He just watches as the CDC explodes. The entire building is engulfed by flames. The explosion itself makes the ground shake beneath them. The flames fan out, not taking mercy on anything in its path. Daryl thought the grenade was loud, but nothing compares to this.

"Oh my, God." He hears Mae whisper. Her eyes don't leave the huge cloud of black smoke before her. The flames themselves are unbelievable, the heat coming from them is amazing. It isn't until Daryl starts the engine that Mae looks to him.

"T-thank you. I don't- you could have died." Her face goes from pure horror to complete anger. This bitch is mad at him for saving her life! Un-fucking-believable! Daryl says nothing, just stares at the road ahead of him. His focus is on the road and nothing more. Not on the girl sitting next to him, shaking like a leaf and sniffling. Not to the looks she keeps shooting him. Not to the attempts that she makes to speak to him. None of that. Nope.

He must have made a face when she spoke, because she looks to be on the verge of tears. Not the sad kind, either. The kind that say "hey, I'm terrified of you and want nothing to do with you, but I have no choice in the matter, so I just have to deal with it." But, he isn't paying attention to her, just the road. Nothing else, just the fucking road.

"I'm sorry. I owe you my life. I –"

"Don't. I didn't do nothin' nobody else wouldn't have done."

"Do you truly believe that? Glenn was going to leave me behind, but you –"

"I said don't." He sees her look down, and begin to play with her locket. He knows she wants to say something more but he is praying that she keeps it to herself. But are his prayers ever answered? That would be a no.

"You must think, I can't take care of myself, and honestly, that's exactly what it looks like." He doesn't stop her. If he was that type of person, he would tell her that he didn't think she couldn't take care of herself, that he thought everyone needs a little help every now and then. But she is on a roll, and if he could, he would listen to her all day. "But you made it clear last night that I am not yours to look after, and those weren't my intentions at all. I'm sorry for putting you in danger."

He isn't much of a talker so he just nods. There isn't anything he can say to all of that, and he doesn't think she expects an answer, because she rests her head on the window and closes her eyes. Daryl doesn't say anything and just lets her sleep. They have a long day ahead of them.

* * *

**Here is preview of next chapter! Enjoy!**

**A hand is slammed over her mouth and she is pulled into a body. She knows now, that she must keep fighting. She can't just give up. She does the only thing she can do. She begins to fight back.**

**"Stop," he hisses in her ear. "It's me." Although, that voice should make her feel uncomfortable, she seems at ease when she hears it. The ease doesn't last long when a biter comes up behind them. He grabs Daryl with his grey, withered hands, and inches his mouth closer and closer. **


End file.
